F 

7! 

18737 



375 



Louisiana's Invitation 



i 



The Queen State of the South 



Opens Its Gates to Welcome All Good Home- 
seekers to Come and Participate in 
Its Diversified Farming. 



Where the Average Acreage Production is 
Greater Than Any State in the Union. 



WRITE TO 



HARRY D. WILSON, 

Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration 

BATON ROUGE 




Class 



Book_ 



A Hand-Book of Louisiana 



GIVING 



General and Agricultural Features, Together 
With Crops That Can be Grown 



AND 



Description of Each Parish, Climate, Health, Education, 
Industries, Railroads, Water-Courses, Forestry, Etc. 



ISSUED BY THE 
Louisiana State Board of Agriculture and Immigration 



HARRY D. WILSON, 

Commissioner, Baton Rouge, La. 






PREFACE 

IN THE PREPARATION and compilation of data for the publication 
of such a book as will give with accuracy and clearness the varied 
and immense resources of a State which is only yet in the infancy of its 
development it is necessary to cull from every available source possible. 
In this book we have taken from our previous hand-books, we have 
given copious extracts from Hon. Jos. E. Ransdell's "On to Dixie" speech 
in the House of Representatives in the Sixty-first Congress, almost his 
entire speech, "The Lure of the Southland," recently delivered in the 
United States Senate; we have copied from the National Magazine the 
article of Garnault Agassiz on "The Untold Treasures of Louisiana," 
and are under obligations to Professors W. R. Dodson, W. H. Dalrymple. 
E. S. Richardson, E. Pegram Flower and many others for courtesies ex- 
tended, and to the United States Agricultural and Census Bureaus for 
valuable data. 

HARRY D. WILSON, Commissioner. 



D. of D. 
JUN 20 1917 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page 

Map of Louisiana 3 

Governor and Lieutenant Governor 4 

State Capitol 5 

1 1 airy D. Wilson and W. R. Dodson. 6 
J. F. Denechaud and Eugene Jas- 

tremski 7 

Howell Carter and Millard S. Per- 
kins 8 

Dr. W. C. Stubbs and Dr. W. H. 

Dalrymple 9 

Steamboat landing on the Missis- 
sippi River 14 

Field of sorghum for silage 18 

Field of sugar cane 19 

A Louisiana white short horn. ... 23 

Herd of Tangipahoa beef cattle. . 24 

An inexpensive hog house 25 

Sample of Louisiana hogs 26 

Flock of sheep in Pointe Coupee. . . 26 

One of Louisiana's money makers. 29 

Herd of Tangipahoa dairy cattle. 30 

A field of soy beans 32 

A poultry farm 34 

Aberdeen Angus bull 36 

Harvesting and threshing rice.... 41 

Sample of Louisiana corn 4 3 

A good road along the river bank. 45 

A corn field in East Louisiana . 59 

A corn field near Raceland 61 

A lespedeza field 64 

A coming beauty. . .• 66 

Holstein cattle 69 

Sulphur mines of Calcasieu 70 

A hardwood forest 73 

A sample of Louisiana good roads. 76 
A Louisiana plantation home of 

today 77 

Scene near Many, in Sabine Parish 83 

Rice in a warehouse 94 

The old home of Duncan F. Ken- 

ner 95 

Cotton compress at Lafayette 97 

Texas & Pacific bridge across the 

Atchafalaya 98 

School children off for a picnic and 
going in to dinner on sugar 

plantation 100 

A farmer's bungalow in North Lou- 
isiana 101 

A farmhouse in Bossier Parish and 

a Bossier Parish exhibit 102 

A Louisiana good road 105 

The Hereford bull 109 

An up-to-date dairy Ill 

Old-time sugar plantation home. . 113 



Page 
A typical Louisiana ante bellum 

home.- 115 

An ordinary mortgage lifter 118 

Hogs running at large 120 

A good catch near New Orleans — - 

Spanish mackerel 122 

A plantation home 123 

A natural warm water bathing 

pool 124 

Cattle in North Louisiana . 126 

A plantation home of the present 

day 127 

Hauling logs in Sabine Parish. . . . 130 

Scene on a bayou 134 

A cauliflower field 136 

The end of two centuries 142 

'Possum fat and taters sweet. . . . 142 
A good road between Ascension 

and Assumption. . . 145 

Coal barges from Pittsburg on Mis- 
sissippi River 146 

Field of corn in Caddo and black 

gum or satin walnut 149 

Residence in Terrebonne Parish.. 152 

Saw mill at Taft 155 

Sugar mill in St. Charles 155 

Tulane University, New Orleans. . 158 
A 12 o'clock scene at a Louisiana 

sugar house 161 

Giant pecan tree, Ascension Par- 
ish 161 

A herd of Polled Angus 164 

Hauling seed cotton to Killoden 

gin 167 

La Nana schoolhouse 167 

Cultivating corn on Travelers Rest 

farm 171 

Charcoal burning 174 

Rapides court house 176 

Landing with cotton at New Or- 
leans 178 

Capital Oil Mill, Baton Rouge 180 

Home-raised horses and mules in 

Bossier 182 

School for the Deaf and Dumb, 

Baton Rouge 186 

Field of sugar cane 189 

A sugar factory 191 

A residence in Avoyelles 193 

Old race track of 1858 196 

Clump of trees is where Zachary 
Taylor's residence once stood.. 196 

Awaiting turn at the gin 199 

Second growth, pine 201 

A familiar scene of Louisiana 

coast line 208 



INDEX. 



Page 

Title page 1 

Preface - 

Louisiana's invitation 10 

Banks, assessment, the people.... 11 
Area, production, climate and pop- 
ulation 11 

Comparative temperatures 12 

Rainfall 13 

Rivers and water courses 11 

Navigable streams 15 

Navigation in each state of Mis- 
sissippi Valley 16 

Railroads 17 

What Louisiana lands will grow.. 18 

Cotton and cotton factories 21 

Stock raising 2 2 

Live stock — Cattle, etc. By Dr. 

W. H. Dalrymple 25 

Hogs 26 

Sheep, horses and mules 27 

Live stock organizations — La. Live 

Stock Sanitary Board 2 7 

Dairying in Louisiana 28 

Soy beans 31 

Poultry raising 34 

Bureau of Marketing 35 

Resources and possibilities 35 

Animal industry and climate 37 

Health 38 

Lands of the State 40 

Louisiana Queen of the South -14 

Come to Dixie 44 

Letter from Dr. S. A. Knapp 4 5 

A Belgian's opportunities in Lou- 
isiana 5 7 

Ox enings in the South 48 

Tiie Lure of the Southland — The 

South the Nation's Hope 49 

The South needs men and money. . 50 
The South's varied farm products 

and other industries 51 

Southern climate — the nation's 

best 52 

Health conditions in the South. ... 54 
The agricultural heart of the na- 
tion 57 

King Cotton 53 

Corn outstripping cotton 59 

A record of seven boys' corn pro- 
duction 60 

Superiority of Southern corn 61 

Sugar, rice, tobacco, etc 63 

Our unequaled forage crops 63 

Hogs — the mortgage lifter 65 

Rapidly growing cattle industry.. 66 

The South a mineral empire 69 

Sulphur, Louisiana's monopoly. ... 70 

Petroleum and natural gas 70 

Golden opportunities 71 

South's remarkable manufacturing 

growth 72 

Southern banks 72 

Our splendid timber wea'th 73 

Excellent transportation facilities.. ?5 

Come to the Southland 7 7 

Mean temperatures, etc 78 



Pain 

Precipitation SO 

Percentage of sunshine 81 

Mean relative humidity M 

Average date of first killing frost, 
Average date of last killing 
frost and earliest date of kill- 
ing frost in the autumn and 

latest date in the spring 82 

Length of crop-growing seasons.. 83 
Average yield and value of cotton 
grown by all farmers and by 

colored farmers S4 

Table showing total yield of corn, 
oats, wheat and hay ami in 
year average in 15 Southern 

States, also mineral products.. 85 

Letter from Manufacturers' Record 86 

Public road mileages, etc 88 

The Parishes of Louisiana 89 

Total assessment, State of Louisi- 
ana 90 

Population of Parishes in 1910... '.'1 

Estimated population for 1916.... 9:; 

Acadia Parish 9 4 

Allen 95 

Ascension and Assumption 96 

Avoyelles 98 

Beauregard and Bienville 99 

Bossier i hi 

Caddo 103 

Calcasieu ana Caldwell 104 

Cameron and Catahoula 106 

Claiborne and Concordia 107 

DeSoto and East Baton Rouge. . . . 108 

East Carroll Ill 

East Feliciana 112 

Evangeline and Franklin 1 1 :> 

Grant and Iberia 114 

Iberville, Jackson and Jeffers >n. . . 116 

Jefferson Davis and Lafayette... 117 

Lafourche 118 

Lincoln i 19 

Livingston 120 

Madison and Morehouse 121 

Natchitoches 12 2 

Orhans and Ouachita 123 

Plaquemines and Pointe Coupee. . . J 2.7 

Rapides 127 

Red River, Richland and Sabine.. 129 

St. Bernard and St. Charles 131 

St. Helena 132 

St. James, St. John and St. Landry 133 

St. Martin 134 

St. Mary and St. Tammany 135 

Tangipahoa 136 

Tensas and Terrebonne 137 

Union, Vermi'ion and Vernon 138 

Washington and Webster 139 

West Bator Rouge, West Carroll , 

and West Feliciana 140 

Winn 141 

Forces at work in behalf of the 
farmers — Agricu'tural Depart- 
ment, La. State University and 
Vgricultural Experiment Sta- 

t inns 143 



INDEX— Continued 



Page 

Parish fairs, fertilizer and feed- 
stuff laws, and Prof. E. S. Rich- 
ardson on the moving picture 

in extension work 144 

Oood roads and education 147 

Professional and industrial educa- 
tion 148 

Education of the colored and in- 
dustrial 148 

Private and sectarian schools. . . . 150 
Two splendid adjuncts to Louisi- 
ana's ediicational forecs 150 

State institutions and Soldiers' 

Home 153 

Insane Asylum and Charity Hos- 
pital 154 

Shreveport Charity Hospital 156 

State penitentiary and convict 

fa rms 156 

As others see us 157 

Started without a dollar 160 

Raises all his supplies 160 

The untold treasures of Louisiana. 162 
No yellow fever now — The factor 

system 162 

Diversification ; what one farm 

can do 163 



Page 
What is claimed by a town — Corn 

raising 165 

Wheat and oats — Irish potatoes... 166 

Peanuts = 168 

Sweet potatoes — Stock raising.... 169 
Sugar cane: its planting and pro 

cess of manufacture 170 

Cotton ITS 

Cotton seed oil industry and rice. . 180 

Irrigation 183 

Perique tobacco 186 

Trucking 187 

How foreigners are prospering. ... 188 
What an acre can produce — Can- 
taloupes 1S9 

Citrus fruits — Pecans 190 

Mineral wealth — Sulphur 190 

Oil production 193 

Natural gas 195 

Rock salt 196 

Timber resources 200 

Cypress 202 

Fisheries — Oysters 204 

Shrimp 205 

Industrial development 205 

New Orleans 206 

The South 207- 

Why you should settle in Lou- 
isiana 208 



IN 






o ,S« 



LOUISIANA'S INVITATION 

THE HOSPITALITY of Louisiana is proverbial, and she now stands 
with open arms at her borders to welcome the stranger. Nature is 
exceedingly bountiful within her gates; agriculturist, manufacturer or 
artisan will find here what all men should seek, "a festival of well 
requited labor," with a genial climate, an honest, sunny-tempered peo- 
ple, and all the advantages of Twentieth Century civilization. Those 
who have come to her in recent years stand ready to testify in her 
behalf. Her marvelous development of the past ten years is but the 
forerunner of a more marvelous development in the future. She invites 
you to come and be a part of this development. The last United States 
Census Report shows that capital invested in farms yielded, in Louisi- 
ana, an income of 27.3% annually on the investment, and this, gentle 
stranger, is 70% higher than the general average for the whole United 
States. Corn, cotton, sugar-cane, rice, fruits and berries, truck, forage 
crops, and almost everything grown under the sun, can be raised on her 
rich and responsive soil. Her advance as a manufacturing State has 
been marvelous. In 1890 she was the sixth ranking manufacturing 
State in the South, and in 1900 she had jumped to second place. Large 
and valuable deposits of coal in the northwestern, and an unlimited sup- 
ply of fuel oil and gas in the various parts of the State, are the additions 
to her mineral wealth, discovered during recent years. Situated in the 
heart of the raw material district, with the richest soil on earth, with 
cheap fuel, oil, coal and gas, with nearly four thousand miles of naviga- 
ble streams and three thousand miles of railways, with the Panama 
Canal now completed, can you have one lingering doubt of her future 
greatness and imperial splendor? If this material side appeals not to 
you, examine her aesthetic beauty. She has her throne builded beneath 
the sunniest sky that lights the globe, and her shores are laved by the 
waters of the great Gulf. She lives perfumed by the choicest flowers, 
when bleak winter's chill has enclasped her more northern sisters. 
Boreas, when most furious, stops in his maddened career, to pet and woo 
her. She is rich in all and holds out a generous and charitable hand to 
the children of her poorer sisters. 



11 



BANKS. 
Louisiana has hundreds of banks, national and State. They are 
sound financial institutions, with ample funds to take care of the grow- 
ing and gathering of her crops, the operating of her manufacturing 
industries and her commercial industries. For the promotion of new 
enterprises, outside capital is largely depended upon, but if a Federal 
Farm Loan Bank can be established every want in that line will be filled. 

ASSESSMENT. 

In 1915 the total assessment of the State was $590,568,506.00. 

THE PEOPLE. 

"Of the typical population of Louisiana, also, a special mystery seems 
to be made, but Louisianians have much reason to be proud of their 
historical descent. They have a history as authentic and as valuable as 
the annals of the Puritans of Massachusetts, or that of Catholic Mary- 
land. The rearing of the State's colonial structure by one nation, and 
its blending into colonial dependence upon another, contains no special 
mystery. They are a hospitable, brave and generous people, whether 
tracing their history back to French Bienville or Laussat; to Spanish 
O'Reilly or Salcedo, or to American Claiborne. 

"That is the native State autonomy, which, blended with English, 
Irish and Scotch immigration, and the descendants of the Cavalier and 
Huguenot settlers from Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and the 
Carolinas, make up the population of Louisiana. A people exhibiting all 
those finer traits which betoken the cultivation of noble traditions and 
refined associations, evidenced in the generous hospitality, the chivalric 
spirit, the punctilious courtesy, the knightly hand, the Christian knee, 
the clean firesides, and the holy altars cherished in the hearts and homes 
of as proud and pure an aristocracy as the world has ever known." 

AREA, PRODUCTION, CLIMATE AND POPULATION. 

Louisiana has nearly 45,000 square miles of territory, containing some 
28,000,000 million acres. Of this amount about 13,000,000 acres are of 
alluvial origin, and the rest good upland. With proper drainage and 
levee protection there is very little of the alluvial region that cannot 
be cultivated. Thousands of acres of so-called marsh and swamp are 
being reclaimed and put into cultivation every year. Capital and brain 
have converted barren wastes into rich, productive fields. The uplands 
are almost all susceptible of cultivation. Of her 28, 000,000 acres, only 
about 5,000,000 are in cultivation. 

CLIMATE. 

Its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico secures a prevalence of southern 
winds, cool and moisture-ladened, which mitigates the extremes of 
weather experienced by the States of the North. Though our summers 
are prolonged, the heat is never oppressive, the thermometer rarely 
reaching 95 degrees. In carefully kept records of the three Experiment 
Stations for eight years, 98 degrees has been the highest recorded tem- 
perature at New Orleans, £9 degrees at Baton Rouge, and 100 degrees at 



12 



Calhoun. These maxima amounts have been rarely reached, not oftener 
than one or two days in a summer. 

The winters are usually mild, with an average temperature of about 
53 degrees in the southern, and about 45 degrees in the northern part of 
the State. 

Above all other requirements for a good climate, the differences 
between summer heat and winter cold should not be too great. Louisi- 
ana stands, in this respect, almost at the head of the States. She is 
blessed with a uniform temperature. 

Ice appears here but seldom, and the climate of the entire State, from 
October to May, is an ideal one, attractive alike to the invalid and tour- 
ist, and thousands of visitors from the North are yearly seeking this 
State in quest of health or enjoyment. The hotels furnish attractive 
homes for the opulent and fashionable, while men of moderate means 
can find cheap and excellent homes in the smaller hostelries and private 
boarding houses of the city, in the towns and villages scattered over 
this State. 

The comparative temperature of New Orleans, and of Jacksonville, 
and San Francisco, is seen below, for the winter months of November, 
December, January and February, as compiled from the Weather Bu- 
reau records, at New Orleans, La.: 

Average Average Highest Lowest 

New Orleans, La. Mean. highest lowest on record on record 

November 61 68 54 85 30 

December 56 64 49 81 . 20 

January 54 62 47 82 15 

February 58 65 51 82 16 

Season 57 65 50 85 15 

Jacksonville, Fla. 

November 63 72 52 86 26 

December 57 68 47 81 19 

January 55 64 44 81 15 

February 60 70 50 84 14 

Season 59 68 4S S6 14 

San Francisco, Cal. 

November 56 64 50 78 41 

December 52 57 47 72 34 

January 50 56 44 69 29 

February 52 58 45 76 35 

Season 52 5S' 46 78 29 

Regarding the heat of summer in Louisiana, there prevails in many 
Darts a totally erroneous opinion. It is believed that it must be warmer 
here than in other States because Louisiana is located farther South. 
Such reasoning is utterly false; living in close proximity to the Mexican 



13 

Gulf, and having during the months of March, April, May, June, July 
and August, almost constantly south winds, we always have a cooling 
sea breeze. 

Another widespread error is the impression that a white man cannot 
work in this climate during the summer, and that only the negro can 
stand the heat. As far as the heat is concerned, the truth has been 
stated above; in regard to labor, it should be said that there are certain 
people who can never work, because they do not want to— during the 
summer it is too hot, and during the winter too cold for them, and they 
are willing to believe that only the negro can stand the heat. 

Our German gardeners and farmers, as well as thousands of other 
nationalities, have performed labor in garden and field for many years. 
They need no negroes, and feel so comfortable that they prefer the 
summer to the winter. On extremely hot days they work in the field 
only during the morning and afternoon hours, "laying off" during the 
midday heat, as they do in other sections under similar conditions. 

Cases of sunstroke are reported from Northern and Western cities; 
they occur here but seldom. 

RAINFALL. 

The average yearly rainfall at New Orleans is about 70 inches, de- 
creasing in quantity as one goes northward, with 45 inches as an aver- 
age in the extreme northern portion. The heaviest showers fall in sum- 
mer during the growing season. Winter comes next in its quantity of 
rainfall, while our springs and autumns are our dry seasons, with only 
occasional showers. Such seasons are conducive to the welfare of our 
staple crops— corn, cotton, sugar-cane and rice; dry springs permitting 
a successful planting and cultivation of these crops, and dry autumns, 
so essential to the rapid and economical harvesting of them. Our regular 
rains are from the southwest, yet in summer they sometimes come from 
the northwest, and when they do they are usually accompanied by thun- 
der and lightning. 



14 



RIVERS AND WATER COURSES 

NO STATE IN THE UNION has so much alluvial lands or so many 
miles of navigable waters. The widest part of the flood plain, as 
well as the delta of the .Mississippi River lies within its border. The 
alluvial and marsh lands derivable from this river are over 13,000 square 
miles. The bottoms of the Red, and its tributaries before it enters this 
valley, about 1,700, the marsh lands west of the delta, about 4,000; other 
alluvial and swamp lands, about 600 square miles, making in the aggre- 
gate a little over 19,000 square miles of alluvial land, or nearly one-half 
of the State. 

The Mississippi and the Red are the chief drainage channels of the 
State, and almost all of the larger streams of these basins diverge from 
them, and hence, are called bayous. Before the days of the levees they 



..i| v '"'*'r-'r^rf 1 " (L\ 



I 



*1~T*i'i1f li ' mm 




A Steamboat Landing on the Mississippi 
River. 



formed so many channels, or outlets for the escape of water in floods. 
Such a network of connection has thus been formed that it is now diffi- 
cult sometimes to trace the course of an individual stream. As a rule, some 
large bayou flows along the edge of the bottom plain. Bayou Macon is on 
the west of the Mississippi flood plain, Ouachita River on the extreme west 
of the central plain, Bayous Boeuf, Cocodrie and Teche on the west of 
the flood plain of the Red River. In North Louisiana the rivers follow 
the trend of the subterranean rocks. In the east they flow southeasterly 
in the Ouachita, and southward into the Red. In the extreme south those 
west of the Mississippi flow southward into the Gulf; those east, south- 
east, into the lakes. 



15 



NAVIGABLE WATERS IN LOUISIANA. 

(In all of which boats operate during some season of the year.) 

Miles of Head of 

Streams — Navigation Navigation 

AmJte River 61 Port Vincent. 

Atchafalaya River 218 Red River. 



Barataria Bayou 

♦Bartholomew Bayou... 

Bayou Louis 

Big Creek 

Bisteneau Lake 

Black River 

Bodcau Lake 

Boeuf River 

Boeuf Bayou 

Bunches Bend 

Calcasieu River 

Cane River 

Choctaw Bayou 

Corney Creek 

Courtableu Bayou 

D'Arbonne Bayou 

DeGlaise Bayou 

Delarge Bayou 

Dorchite Bayou 

Forks of Calcasieu 

Grand Caillou Bayou. 



78 Harvey's Canal. 

145 State Line, Arkansas. 

25 Florence. 

20 Ferry Landing. 

30 Minden. 

70 Mouth of Ouachita. 

10 Bellevue. 

300 Lake Lafourche. 

11 

12 
132 

60 Grand Ecore. 

25 Pinhook. 

50 Spearsville. 

36' Washington. 

75 Farmerville. 

75 Evergreen. 

20 
6 Minden. 

32 

13 



Lafourche Bayou 318 Donaldsonville. 



Lacombe Bayou 

Little Rdver (including Catahoula 
Lake) 



Louis Bayou 

Macon Bayou 

Manchac Bayou , 

Mermentau Bayou , 

*Mississippi River 

Natalbany River 

•Ouachita River 

Palmyra Lake 

*Pearl River 

Petite Anse Bayou 

*Red River 510 Fulton, I. T. 



15 Bayou Lacombe. 

150 St. L„ I. M. & S. R. R. 

Bridge. 

15 Bayou Castor. 

200 Floyd. 

18 Hope Villa. 

81 Lake Arthur. 

560 St. Paul, Minn. 

12 Springfield. 

217 State Line. 

25 Palmyra. 

103 Carthage, Miss. 

8 Salt Mine. 



Rouge Bayou 

Sabine Bayou 

Sabine River 

Teche Bayou 

Tensas River 

Tickfaw River 

Terrebonne Bayou. 
Tangipahoa Rdver. 
Tchefuncta Bayou. 
Vermilion Bayou.. 



15 Shoals, Texas. 

75 Catahoula Lake. 

3S7 

91 St. Martinsville. 

150 V., S. & P. Bridge. 

16 V.. S. & P. Bridge. 

27 

15 

20 Covington. 

49. . Pin Hook Bridge. 



Other streams 155 



Total 4,794 



•Portion of navigable streams lying in other States. 



16 



Miles of Navigation in Each State of the Mississippi Valley. 



Louisiana 4,794 

Arkansas 2,100 

Mississippi 1,380 

Montana 1,310 

Dakota 1,280 

Illinois 1,270 

Tennessee 1,260 

Kentucky 1,027 

Indiana 1,230 

Iowa 840 

Indian Territory 830 



Minnestota .. . 

Wisconsin 

Ohio 

Texas 

Nebraska .... 
West Virginia. 
Pennsylvania . 

Kansas 

Alabama 

New York. . . . 



720 
660 
560 
550 
440 
500 
380 
240 
200 
70 



Comparative Table Showing Total Mileage 
Branches and Spurs, Operated 
June 30, for Seventeen 

Total Miles 
Years Ending June 30 



, Single Track, Main Line, 

in Louisiana on 

Years. 



1899. 
1900. 
1901. 
1902. 
1S03. 
1904. 
1905. 
1906. 
1907. 
1908. 
1909. 
1910. 
1911. 
1912. 
1913. 
1S14, 
1915. 



Operated 
Single Track 
2,264.32 
2,425.40 
2,662.00 
2,912.73 
2,969.67 
3,413.70 
3,505.33 
3,886.74 
4,290.25 
4,765.78 
4,950.65 
5,021.18 
5,175.47 
5,257.05 
5,232.83 
5,160.33 
5,240.15 



Increase in 
Miles 



161.08 
236.60 
250.73 

56.94 
444.03 
191.63 
261.41 
433.51 
475.53 
184.87 

70.53 
154.29 

81.58 
t24.22 
172.50 

79.82 



Per Cent 
Increase 

.066 

.097 

.094 

.019 

.150 

.056 

.073 

.110 

.095 

.037 

.014 

.030 

.015 
t.004 
t.014 

.015 



t Decrease. 
LIST OF RAILROADS IN LOUISIANA AND THEIR TRACK MILE- 
AGE ON JUNE 30, 1915. 

Total Miles 
Main Lines, 
Name of Road Branches 

and Spurs 

Alexandria & Western Railway Comapny 14.70 

Arkansas, Louisiana & Gulf Railway Company, The 39.20 

♦Arkansas Southeastern Railway Company 31.00 

Brimstone Railroad & Canal Company 7.73 

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company, The 147.73 

tChicago, St. Louis & New Orleans Railroad Company 

*Dorcheat Valley Railroad Company 

Franklin & Abbeville Railway Co., The 44.16 

Glenmora & Western Railway Co 12.00 

Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company 63.96 

Gulf & Sabine River Railroad Co 28.23 

Houston & Shreveport Railroad Company 39.78 

Jlberia, St. Mary & Eastern Railroad Company 39.46 

Iberia & Vermilion Railroad Company 16.09 



17 

Total Miles 
Main Lines, 
Name of Road Branches 

and Spurs 

Illinois Central Railroad Company 188.12 

t Jasper & Eastern Railway Company 

Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Terminal Company, The 

Kansas City Southern Railway Company, The 249.08 

Kentwood & Eastern Railway Company 48.03 

Kentwood, Greensburg & Southwestern Railroad Company. .. 14.20 

Kinder & Northwestern Railroad Company 12.00 

Lake Charles & Northern Railroad Company 44.35 

Lake Charles Railway & Navigation Company 9.00 

Lake Providence, Texarkana & Wn. Railroad Company 8.00 

Leesville East & West Railroad, The 2.00 

Louisiana & Arkansas Railway Company 222.60 

Louisiana & Northwest Railroad Company, The 96.69 

Louisiana & Pacific Railway Company 24.60 

Louisiana Railway & Navigation Company 342.48 

Louisiana Southern 'Railway Oomipany 65.31 

Louisiana Western Railroad Company 207.74 

Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company (N. O. & M. Div.) . . 44.64 

Mansfield Railway & Transportation Company 15.85 

*Milliken & Southwestern Railroad Company 

Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. of Texas, The 19.29 

Monroe & Southwestern Railway Company 10.66 

Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad & Steamship Company. 416.34 

Neame, Carson & Southern Railroad Company 32.58 

Natchez, Urania & Ruston Railway .Company 14.00 

New Iberia & Northern Railroad Company 49.35 

New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad Company 61. £6 

New Orleans Great Northern Railroad Company 136.70 

New Orleans, Natalbany & Natchez Railway Company 29.01 

New Orleans Southern & Grand Isle Railway Company 59.71 

New Orleans Terminal Company 26.08 

New Orleans, Texas & Mexico Railroad Company 172.72 

North Louisiana & Gulf Railroad Co 25.70 

OberlLn, Hampton & Eastern Railroad Co 11.00 

Opelousas, Gulf & Northeastern Ry. Co., The 57.03 

Ouachita & Northwestern Railroad Co 65.41 

Pontchartrain R. R. (Branch L. & N. R. R. Co.) 4.96 

Red River & Gulf Railroad Co 14.20 

St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Ry. Co 573.68 

St. Louis Southwestern Railway Co 37.50 

St. Tammany & New Orleans Rys. & Ferry Co 13.60 

Sibley, Lake Bistene^u & Southern Ry. Co 28.00 

Texas & Pacific Railway Co., The 720. S5 

Tioga & Southeastern Railway Co 18.00 

Tremont & Gulf Railway Co 66.74 

Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railway Co 183.20 

Victoria, Fisher & Western Railroad Co 31.00 

Woodworth & Louisiana Central Railroad Co 23.00 

Yazoo <Sr Mississippi Valley Railroad Co., The 236.15 

Zwolle & Eastern Railway Co 23.00 

Totals 5,240.15 

*Ceased operation. INot an operating road. 



18 



WHAT LOUISIANA'S LAND WILL GROW 

THE GENERAL IMPRESSION -prevails that the South can only grow 
cotton, sugar-cane, tobacco and rice; that other crops cannot be 
grown successfully, and that hay-making and stock-raising are impos- 
sibilities in this sunny land. 

This erroneous imipression has bee,n produced by the persistency of 
our planters and farmers in growing the above crops, a persistency 
largely inherited and acquired, with our large plantations filled with 
ignorant, unskilled laborers, who have been disciplined since youth in 
planting methods. But the climax has been reached. Planting 




FIELD OF SORGHUM FOR SILAGE. 



on a large scale is no longer popular. Unreliable labor, low 
prices, soil exhaustion and high money rates have shorn this business 
of all its pleasures and most of its profits. Disintegration and division is 
now the order for the day, and the large plantation of yesterday will be 
tomorrow the abode of many happy and prosperous farmers. 

The question may be asked, What else can be grown in Louisinaa? 
The reply is a sweeping one; nearly everything capable of growth in a 
temperate or sub-tropical country. Wheat has been, and is now, grown 
in the northern part of the State. Oats sown in the early fall, and using 
the rust-proof varieties for seed, will make as finely here as anywhere 
on earth. Over 100 bushels per acre have been grown on the alluvial 
and bluff lands of the State, while the hill lands of north Louisinaa have 
frequently given over sixty bushels per acre. Spring oats are sometimes 
successful, but are not generally to be recommended. Rye and barley, 
if home-grown seed be used, will thrive all over the State, and are fre- 



19 



quently sown for winter pastures. The stock are turned on during- the 
winter, and at the beginning- of spring they are removed and the grain 
permitted to mature, frequently with large results. 

'Corn can be grown easily all over the State, and if the same attention 
and methods of cultivation were given it here as in the corn-growing 
States of the West, the average yield per acre would be but little under 
that produced there. But corn has been a side issue with the cotton 
and cane planter, and cultivated as little as possible. Under this 
"touch-and-go" method, the yield of the State during the past years 
was but little below 25,000,000 bushels. By proper rotation, fertilization 
and cultivation, this yield could easily be doubled, and it is claimed by 
the United States Government report to have already reached that point. 
Upon the alluvial lands of south Louisiana the sugar experiment station 
has made 100 bushels per acre. Sixty to ninety bushels have been ob- 
tained at the State experiment station at Baton Rouge upon the bluff 
lands, and thirty to sixty bushels are the yields upon the rotation fields 
of the north Louisiana experiment station, situated at Calhoun, upon 
the yellow sandy loams of the oak and short-leaf pine hills. It is re- 
ported that 28 boys of the Louisiana Corn Clubs of 1910 grew each more 
than 100 bushels per acre and the average yield of 256 boys was 61 
bushels and the experiments all along that line indicate that Louisiana 
is developing into a great corn-growing State. 

O.ne caution is needed in planting grains of all kinds here — that is, 
for a general crop use home-grown, acclimated seed; e. g., corn grown 
here is planted in early March, and harvested in August and September, 
while seed from the extreme North planted at the same time will prob- 




A FIELD OF SUGAR CANE. 



20 

ably mature in May, and that, too, with only a partial crop. Wheat and 
oats, per contra, planted in the fall from seed raised in the extreme 
North, will not ripen before June or July, if at all (the rust frequently 
destroying- it before ripening), while home-raised seed, sown at the same 
time, will be ready for harvest in May. If, therefore, we desire an early 
crop of corn, we obtain seed from the North, and if an early 
crop of oats, wheat, barley or rye we send South for the seed. The 
reasons are obvious when we remember that each comes to us inheriting 
the habits of the country from which it came. In the North the summers 
are short, and the time of the growth of the corn is, therefore, limited. 
In the South, the winters are short, and, therefore, the period of repose is 
materially shortened, and early maturity follows. This involves the 
whole question of acclimation. In Louisiana, under good culture, the 
corn crop will be from 20 ito 100 bushels per acre. The latter, of course, 
being the fancy figures and as yet only made in exceptional cases. 

German and cat-tail millets, the sorghums, both saccharine and non- 
saccharine, clovers, grasses a.nd root crops, soy beans, cow peas, teosite 
and other forage crops can be grown over the entire State in larger 
quantities per acre than elsewhere, since the tendency of our climate and 
the extreme fertility of our soils are to make "weed." 

Vegetables of all kinds can be, and are, grown in large quantities. 
Besides those grown in the North and West are many others, peculiar 
to the South, such as okra, globe artichoke, lima beans, etc., beets, cab- 
bage, lettuce, radishes, turnips. Mustard, cauliflower, English peas, etc., 
are grown through the winter in open ground. In fact, every home, 
however humble, has its garden, in which most of the vegetables are 
grown. Besides these home gardens there are thousands of acres devoted 
to truck-growing and market-gardening. Prom the latter our own cities 
and towns are supplied, while the former utilize many thousands of 
cars in transporting their products to the Western markets. 

Of fruits a variety of superior excellence can be grown here. The 
apple is grown in the northern part of the State. The pear, particularly 
the Chinese type, all over the State. The peach will grow everywhere, 
but it fruits best in the hill lands . The native and Japanese varieties of 
plums do well everywhere. 

Grapes can be grown in every parish, but succeed best in the uplands. 
Blackberries, dewberries and mulberries grow wild in every parish; so 
do the wild plums in the hill lands. Strawberries are perfectly at home 
everywhere, and in some sections are largely grown for the markets. 
As early as February 18 they were on sale in the markets this year. 
Raspberries, currants and gooseberries do not thrive so far South. 

Pecans grow and bear abundantly all over the State. Some of the 
larger varieties, especially the paper shell, command fancy prices on the 
market. English walnuts are grown in some of the southern parishes. 

Oranges, kumquats and pomelos are grown throughout south Louis- 
iana, while lemons, guavas, bananas and pineapples are grown on the 
extreme Gulf Coast. The kumquat and pomegranate are found in nearly 
every yard of South Louisiana. Figs are cultivated in every parish, while 
in south Louisiana they are largely grown for the canneries. 

No mention is made in this article of our staple crops — cotton, sugar- 
cane and rice — since they are inseparably connected in every man's mind 
with Louisiana and New Orleans. 



21 



This bare recital will show the wonderful capabilities of our soil and 
climate from an agricultural standpoint. Turning to the forests, we And 
a wealth of Nature's products ready for .the harvest, to be turned by 
man's skill and ingenuity into the various forms and shapes suitable for 
man's varied wants. Timber and lumber trees, stave timber, box timber, 
hub timber, spoke timber, tray timber, hoop timber, ship timber, bucket 
timber, etc., crown our hills, decorate our valleys and fill our swamps. 
Shade trees of the densest foliage and of most beautiful shape every- 
where abound. The evergreens and deciduous trees grow side by side in 
every forest. The magnolia and the live oak intertwine their boughs 
with the beech and the ash, while the holly and the dogwood bask in 
their shadows. Willows abound in our swamps, ready for conversion 
into charcoal or to be made into baskets and boxes. 

Louisiana does no>t appeal alone to the utilitarian. Her aesthetic 
products are perhaps more wonderful than her useful ones. Flowers of 
brilliant tints and attractive forms fill her fields, her woods and her 
swamps. Her climate favors the growth of native flowers as well as the 
delicate and highly-prized exotics. Roses bloom in great profusion 
throughout the winter in open air, while japonic/as, hibiscus and poin- 
settas of beautiful shades and brilliant tints are found in many yards. 
Tea roses, olives and magnolias (fuscata) and cape jasmines perfume the 
air with their delicious fragrance, while chrysanthemums and geraniums 
give brilliancy to every garden. 

Palms of endless varieties furnish the centerpieces of many private 
yards, and ornament our parks a,nd public squares. 



COTTON AND COTTON FACTORIES 

THE COTTON INDUSTRY in Louisiana is one of tremendous import 
and significance. The powerful influence it exerts on trade, its ab- 
sorption of capital, tooth as product and manufacture, places it high in 
the scale of commercial economics. There is no section of the world 
more fortunately situated for the production of cotton than Louisiana. 
In the past it has been of such potent significance that it has been called 
"King." Its future depends on the establishment of factories in the 
South. Cotton- producing offers an inviting field for speculative invest- 
ors, because the lands which grow it can be purchased cheaply; it can 
be produced at a nominal cost. The first thing to be done is for the 
raisers of cotton to send less cotton to the East, and manufacture more 
of it at home. 

Of all the industries which Louisiana has which offer inducements, 
that of cotton manufacturing offers supreme attractions. The advan- 
tages of location of a cotton factory anywhere in the State, on the scene 
of the production of raw material, is now a trite topic. Fifteen or twenty 
years ago New England contended that it was preposterous for the 
South to think of manufacturing any grade of goods from cotton. In a 
few years the South has practically driven the East out of all lines of 
•coarser manufacture, and now is demonstrating that this promise was 
not over-estimated. This subject is receiving a great deal of attention 
in Louisiana. It has been successfully tried in the Caroli.nas. The in- 



22 



ducements in this field are tremendous. There are many things which 
place Louisiana at the head of cotton-producing States, as a field for 
the erection of factories. First, the cheapness of fuel, oil and coal and 
natural gas; second, the cost and quality of labor; third, the abundance 
of raw material; fourth, the facilities for transportation, both rail and 
water, and the opportunities for export trade furnished by the great 
port of New Orleans. 

Free sites can be obtained in many of the smaller towns for the erec- 
tion of factories; cheap brick and lumber are always plentiful for the 
erection of the factory; cheap labor is abundant, and is always obtain- 
able in Louisiana. Shreveport, Monroe and Clinton have tried cotton 
factories and other cities and towns are moving actively. New Orleans 
has had a number of successful mills, all turning out a good grade of 
goods, which have never failed to find a quick and ready market and pay 
good dividends. 

The cotton seed oil business has grown to be one of the most impor- 
tant industries of the Staite. Nearly every town has one or more mills, 
and there are now fifty-one of these mills located in the State. 



STOCK RAISING AND DAIRYING 

NO PORTION OF THE GLOBE is better adapted to stock riasing 
than the State of Louisiana. Our soils unaided will supply native 
grasses sufficient to 'maintain cattle and horses through at least nine 
months in the year. The great variety of grasses, clovers and forage 
crops which can be grown so successfully upon all of our soils; our short 
winters, requiring shelter and extra feed for only a few months in the 
year; our numerous water courses, with their infinite number of tribu- 
taries, furnishing an abundant supply of water at all seasons, all con- 
spire to make Louisiana a most desirable location for stock raising. The 
question may be asked, if these natural advantages exist, why is it that 
more have not engaged in this industry? The ready reply is found in 
the fact that heretofore our entire agricultural world has been absorbed 
in the growing of our leading staples: sugar-cane, rice and cotton. 
Another potent reason may be found in the absence of packing factories, 
where a ready market for cattle, sheep and hogs might be found the 
year round. Both of these reasons are now gradually' melting away. 
Sugar-ca,ne and cotton no longer afford the handsome profits of the past 
to the planter, and the latter particularly is now diversifying-his crops 
and paying more attention to the raising of stock. A large majority of 
the horses of the State have been raised at home. Mules have been 
raised in sufficient quantities to demonstrate that, with proper care and 
attention, the finest and largest can be grown here, but only in a few 
instances has mule raising been pursued as a profession or special occu- 
pation. But many farmers are now raising both mules and horses for 
home demand, and some to sell. This home raised stock shows greater 
superiority for work than those raised elsewhere. The same natural 
conditions and advantages apply as to cattle. 

In addition to ample pasturage and luxurious forage for cattle raising, 
fattening cattle for market has superior advantages in Louisiana, as is 
shown in many articles further on. 



23 




24 



Cotton seed meal and hulls from the many cotton seed oil mills, the 
rice bran, polish and shorts from our rice mills, and cheap molasses from 
our sugar 'factories provide superior economic feeding- rations for cattle 
feeders. Annually thousands of head of cattle from this and other States 
are fattened at our mills and shipped to the Northern and Western 
markets. Improved breeds of the dairy type, Jersey and Guernsey, and 
the beef type, Herefords, Durhams, Polled Angus and Devons, are being 
rapidly adopted, and the State is making great strides now in this 
direction. 

Hogs, likewise, are easily raised, and great interest is now being 
manifested in that line of farming. The "razor back" is fast disappear- 
ing and in his place comes the Poland China, the Berkshire, Red Jersey 
and Essex. There are now several breeders in the State with herds as 
good as any. 

Hog raising, by the adoption of proper rotation of crops, making the 
hog gather each crop; can be made exceptionally profitable, provided one 
can find a ready home market when they are fit for the shambles. With 
packing houses convenient, hog raising will soon become a leading in- 
dustry of this State and a most profitable one. By planting an acre or 
two in February or early March of a variety of early ripening sugar corn, 
in rows three feet apart and six to twelve inches in drill, it will be ready 
for the hogs in May. Succeed this with a similar patch of early sorghum, 
which will be ripe in June. Follow with Spanish peanuts, ripe in July, 
or early cow peas, ripe at same time. Add to these Chufas and artichokes 
a late corn field with cow peas, and a good lot of sweet potatoes, and you 
have the material to grow and fatten mnay hogs. These lots should be 
arranged so that the hogs could gather theTn all and simultaneously have 
access to a field of grass or clover, with an abundance of fresh, pure 
water. This is possible on nearly every farm. By adopting such a plan 
as the above, some of our best farmers have raised hogs for half a cent 
a pound. 




SOME OP TANGIPAHOA'S BEEF CATTLE. 



25 



LIVE STOCK 

CAN LIVE STOCK be successfully raised in Louisiana? The most 
forceful reply to this question would seem to-be that farm animals 
of the most popular breeds are being successfully raised in the State, 
and this is doubtless clue to the excellence of the climate and to the 
superabundance of food crops which Louisiana is capable of producing. 

CATTLE. 

Of the breeds and varieties at present in the State, the following may 
be mentioned: 

Beef Breeds.— Shorthorn, Polled Durham, Aberdeen -Angus, among 
the larger breeds, and the Red Poll and Devon, representing the smaller. 

Within the last few years the prices paid for males of the beef breeds 
have ranged up into the thousands of dollars, and animals of the choicest 
families are constantly being introduced. 

Dairy Breeds. — Jersey, Guernsey and Holstein-Friesian chiefly. Some 
of the most famous families of these breeds are represented in the State. 

The main impediment to the cattle industry in Louisiana, like other 
Southern States, has been the presence of the cattle tick. However, the 
work of eradication is being vigorously prosecuted by the Federal and 
State authorities, and a compulsory tick eradication law is now on the 
statute books, which means that the entire State is to be tick-free within 
the next very few years. 




AN INEXPENSIVE HOG HOUSE. 



26 




SAMPLE OF LOUISIANA HOGS. 

HOGS. 

Breeds.— Duroc-Jersey, Berkshire, Poland-China, Hampshire, Tam- 
worth,. Essex, Yorkshire, and other white breeds. 

The raising- of hogs is fast becoming a very extensive industry in 
Louisiana and promises to become one of our chief branches of animal 
husbandry in almost every section. 

It may be said of the hogs, as of the animals previously mentioned, 
that in Louisiana there are represented some of the best strains in the 
country. 



1 


NHr] f^^^HHj 


■ * ! 5 '. 
1 





A FLOCK OP SHEEP IN POINTE COUPEE PARISH. 



27 



SHEEP. 



Breeds.— Shropshire, Southdown, Hampshire, Dorset, and perhaps a 
few other breeds, including some of the Merinos. 

The climate of Louisiana seems better suited to the middle-wool, or 
mutton, breeds than to the heavy, long-wooled sheep, such as the Lin- 
coln, Cotswold, etc., and there are great possibilities in the raising of 
mutton sheep and lambs, especially in the hands of those who are 
familiar with this line of husbandry. Under intelligent management, 
sheep do well in the State, and there is a profitable and large consuming 
market for mutton in the city of New Orleans. 

HORSES AND MULES. 

The heavy draft breeds of horses have not, as yet, gained a very ex- 
tensive foothold, on account of the mule having been for so long the 
chief draft animal; but many farmers are gradually adopting horses of 
the heavier breeds, and they seem to be giving entire satisfaction. 

Of the lighter breeds of horses there are to be found the German 
Coach, French Coach, English Hackney, "Kentucky" saddle horse, and 
the standard-bred, or light harness horse, besides ponies. 

Mules are quite a profitable "crop," and with the proper foundation 
stock are being raised in Louisiana as well as anywhere. 

LIVE STOCK ORGANIZATIONS. 

In connection with live stock it may be said that almost every variety 
has its own special organization or association to look after and stimu- 
late its development in the State. Among these may be mentioned the 
Louisiana Beef Breeders' Association, the Louisiana Jersey Breeders 
Association, the Louisiana Swine Breeders' Association, etc., and in 
addition, Louisiana has a State Live Stock Sanitary Board, or Health 
of Animals Department," to control the various infectious and contagious 
diseases to which live stock may be susceptible. And this State Board 
also operates a serum plant at Baton Rouge for the benefit of the hog- 
raisers, where they may secure potent anti hog cholera serum at a 
minimum of cost. 

THE LOUISIANA STATE LIVE STOCK SANITARY BOARD. 

The Louisiana State Live Stock Sanitary Board is to the live stock 
population of the State what the Louisiana State Board of Health is to 
the people. It was created for the purpose of preventing, controlling and 
eradicating the infectious and contagious diseases of animals and thus 
protect the farmer's property. 

The State Live Stock Sanitary Board prepares and distributes the 
serum to protect the farmer's hogs against hog cholera and has already 
saved thousands of dollars' worth of hogs in the State. 

The State Live Stock Sanitary Board prevents the fart roduo, -ion of 
diseased animals from other States and thus protects the State from 
outbreaks of contagious diseases among our live stock. 



28 



The State Live Stock Sanitary Board requires that all cattle for 
breeding or dairy purposes, over six months old, coming into the State 
of Louisiana, must be accompanied by a certificate from a qualified 
veterinarian approved by officials of the State from which the shipment 
is made, showing their absolute freedom from tuberculosis, and in this 
way prevent the introduction and spread oif that insidious disease among 
the herds of cattle in the State.' 

The State Live Stock Sanitary Board is at the head of the tick erad- 
ication work in the State, and it is through the co-operation of this 
Board with the Federal Bureau of Animal Industry, at Washing- 
ton, that this work is being systematically carried on for the benefit of 
our cattle owners. 

The State Live Stock Sanitary Board operates under one of the best 
live stock sanitary laws in the United States and was created solely in 
the interest of the farmers and stock owners of the State. 

The State Live Stock Sanitary Board earnestly requests the co-oper- 
ation of every farmer and stock owner in the State in order to make its 
work as effective as possible in preventing the introduction of the con- 
tagious diseases of animals from the outside and in controlling and 
eradicating them within the State. 

The State Live Stock Sanitary Board is the friend of the stock owners 
of the State; it was created solely for their protection and it earnestly 
requests their hearty support and assistance in carrying out its provi- 
sions and regulations. 

The State Live Stock Sanitary Board invites- correspondence from the 
stock owners of the State regarding infectious and contagious diseases 
oif their animals, and it urgently requests that all suspicious cases or out- 
breaks of these diseases be promptly reported to the Secretary and 
Executive Officer. 

The prevention, control and', extermination of our animal plagues can 
be accomplished only iby intelligent sanitation. 

The office of the Louisiana State Live Stock Sanitary Board is lo- 
cated in the State Capitol, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. E. P. Flower 
is Executive Officer. 



DAIRYING IN LOUISIANA 

THE PRODUCTION OF MILK and its products is still in its infancy 
in [Louisiana, although this State offers the dairyman many advan- 
tages over other States. Nature affords a splendid climate, native pas- 
tures and an abundance oif pure water and pjenty of cool shade. Besides 
these, the Southern dairyman has the advantage over his Northern com- 
petitor in that our short winters require shelter and extra feed for only a 
few months in the year. Moreover, the feed for the winter — such as 
hay, turnips, etc. — can be raised in winter months. Oats and vetch 
sowed in September and October furnish satisfactory feed for January 
and February. Cotton seed meal and hulls from the many cotton seed 
oil mills, the rice bran from our rice mills and the molasses from the 
sugar factories provide superior economic feed for the cattle. 



29 





30 



Only within the last few years has the attention of the people of New 
Orleans been pointedly drawn to the matter of its milk supply. Heretofore 
nearly all the milk used in that city was produced in dairies within the 
city limits. It is now recognized toy all authorities and scientists that 
milk should not be produced in thickly populated centers, but in the open 
country, and the dairies within the city limits were closed by law and 
compelled to move outside of certain prescribed and safe lines. As a 
result the supply of milk was still further reduced, though the quality 
and cleanliness, thanks to the strict supervision of the Board of Health, 
has been improved. Large dairies have also been established at some 
distance from the city, in localities that can be reached in one or two 
hours by rail. Hammond, which is fifty-two miles from New Orleans, 
furnished a large part of the milk consumed in that city, and a number 
of farmers at Roseland also ship fresh milk daily to New Orleans, and 
all along on the Illinois Central and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroads 
hundreds of gallons are being shipped daily. In New Orleans a company 
with a perfect and sanitary plant and proper facilities for pasteurizing 
milk is buying and disposing of all the milk it can secure, and will help 
much to develop the dairy industry of the country adjacent to New 
Orleans. The net price paid to the producer has been 20 cents a gallon in 
summer and 22 cents in winter, or 4y 2 cents per degree of butter fat. 
This company and other responsible parties will make a contract for all 
the high-grade milk the farmers can produce, and every farmer who 
delivers his milk at the railway station can collect his payments weekly. 

It will thus be seen that New Orleans is in need oif thousands of 
gallons of milk and its need will increase with each year. In the pro- 
duction of butter, cheese and other milk products, too, a rational man- 







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A HERD OP TANGIPAHOA DAIRY CATTLE. 



31 



agement can introduce many improvements and no better opportunity 
can offer itself to those seeking to establish the dairy industry in this 
vicinity. The selection of the proper dairy cow, improved dairy ma- 
chinery and appliances and the necessary knowledge to operate the dairy 
become the only considerations. Otherwise the conditions for success in 
dairying i,n this vicinity are the most favorable. Cheap land suitable 
for this purpose in great abundance and conveniently located near the 
city, on either side of the fourteen railroads entering the city, and 
which deliver the milk here in one or two hours; a strong demand which 
assures to the producer a firm price and ready sale of all the milk he 
has to offer; and, lastly, climate and agricultural conditions which fur- 
nish the dairyman advantages such as he will not find in regions further 
North. Under these circumstances the dairy business in Louisiana prop- 
erly handled offers rare opportunities to any one with the necessary 
experience and small capital required, and there is not the least doubt 
that the time will come when it will be one of the most important indus- 
tries of the State. 



SOY BEANS 

IX THIS AGE OF PROGRESS, where opportunities are constantly 
flashed upon us, we must be on the alert to seize always the best 
in sight. 

In 1798 indigo was the chief crop of this section of the country, selling 
at 75 cents per pound, but cotton made its appearance among the farm- 
ers and at four dollars per hundred (no gins at that time being thought 
of) was considered more remunerative, and it slowly increased until the 
gin was invented, and then it became the great crop of the South, over- 
shadowing all others to such an extent that the one-crop system became 
baneful, and it is now a recognized fact <that diversity is the farmers' 
slogan that should be sounded all over our Southern land; it is the 
"shibboleth" that will open the doors to prosperity, but selections for 
diversified crops should be seriously considered. The soil and climate 
are factors that should not be overlooked; the adaptability to Southern 
cultivation would be another consideration, and now, after eight years' 
actual observation, after a careful examination into its merits, we un- 
hesitatingly recommend soy beans as one crop that should occupy a 
prominent place on every farm in the State of Louisiana. 

It is practically a companion to cotton; its similarity i,n culture is its 
first recommendation, and we trust that it will not be long before it is 
known as one of Louisiana's great staple crops. 

The introduction of anything new is sometimes attended by slow 
growth. Sugar cane, for instance, was first introduced by the Jesuit 
Fathers into Louisiana in 1751, and no real development took place until 
fifty years after, and today it is grand among our agricultural interests. 

Rice, too, slowly traveled along as a small adjunct to our other prod- 
ucts until Southwest Louisiana forced it into our first lines. 

Thus we see that it took the invention of the gin to place cotton upon 
its proper pedestal; the crushing rollers of the mill was the first key to 
unlock the doors of the world's great storage of sweetness; and irriga- 
tion placed rice as one of the great products of Louisiana's soil, but all 



32 




A FIELD OF SOY BEANS. 



these developments took time and study, but in recommending soy beans 
no. such delays are necessary, for, besides <the great feeding- qualities of 
this product, the cotton seed oil mills, with only a few small changes, 
are ready to convert into oil and meal. 

The oil mills of North Carolina have already begun to crush the soy 
beans, having this season crushed over a hundred thousand bushels, mak- 
ing 2,400 tons of meal and 94,500 gallons of oil. 

The average extraction from a ton of cotton seed is about 800 pounds 
of meal, 800 pounds of hulls, 35 to 40 gallons of oil and 90 pounds of 
linters. From soy beans 1,600 to 1,700 pounds of meal are procured, and 
35 to 40 gallons of oil made. The average yield of cotton seed per acre is 
from one-eighth to one-quarter ton, whereas, the beans yield from 25 to 
50 bushels per acre. The cotton stalk is valueless as a feed and expensive 
to get rid of, while the soy bean vine yields about one ton per acre of 
feed that is equal to wheat bran or alfalfa. Cotton takes from the soil, 
while beans add to its fertility. 

If we stop a moment and think of cotton seed, the despised product 
which the ingenuity of man was strenuously used to get rid oif, when 
we think of the envied looks of many owners of gins when they found a 
neighbor had located upon a running stream and had the double satis- 
faction of possessing cheap motive power and at the same time gotten 
rid of a great nuisance by dumping the seed into the stream below, 
today one of the South's great assets is that once obnoxious product that 
has developed into a commercial importance that ranks high indeed. 

Strawberries, too, that have been only one of our garden luxuries in 
the past, today bring into Louisiana several millions of dollars, and the 
accomplishment of this great development was produced only by co- 



33 



operation among the farmers and railroads, and now by co-opera- 
tion between farmers and cotton seed oil men we feel absolutely- 
sure that this new agricultural "Richmond" will win out in the great 
field of diversification which we have planned to fight out and which will 
place Louisiana in the front ranks of agricultural States. 

And why should soy beans not win its place among these diversified 
crops? It can be planted from early spring until the middle of July. It 
can follow Irish potatoes, oats or any other spring crop. 

The soy bean is one of the most important agricultural plants of 
Northern China and Japan. It is said that the production is so great in 
Manchuria that already that country is annually exporting hundreds of 
thousands of tons to Europe, and the western coast of America is grad- 
ually becoming a market for this product. Henry says: "No other 
plant in the United States grown so little at this time as the soy bean is 
so full of promise to agriculture, especially to animal husbandry." 

Soy bean meal is a valuable dairy and poultry feed because of the 
high content of protein. On the Pacific coast, where soy bean meal has 
been manufactured for several years as a dairy feed, the material has 
become very popular at $37.50 per ton. An idea of its importance com- 
mercially is suggested by the fact that the United States has been annu- 
ally importing 5,000,000 pounds of soy bean cake, 19,000,000 pounds of 
soy bean oil and 4,000,000 pounds of soy bean seed. 

In conclusion, special attention is called to the following tables from 
Henry's "Feeds and Feeding": 

DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN 1000 POUNDS. 

Crude Protein. Carbohydrates. Fat. 

Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 

Wheat bran 12.50 41. G 3.0 

Alfalfa hay 10.60 39.0 0.9 

Soy bean (grain) 30.70 22.8 14.4 

Soy bean (hay) 11.70 39.2 1.2 

Red clover 7.60 39.3 1.8 

Timothy hay 3.00 42. S 1.2 

Corn stover 2.10 42.4 0.7 

Linseed meal 30.20 32.6 6.7 

The above is conclusive evidence of the great value of soy beans as a 

feeding stuff, and the following from the same authority shows how they 
stand as a fertilizer: 

FERTILIZER CONSTITUENTS IN 1,000 POUNDS. 

Nitrogen. Phosphoric Acid. Potash. 

Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 

Wheat bran 25.6 29.5 16.2 

Alfalfa hay 23. S 5.4 22.3 

Soy bean (grain) 5S.4 13.7 24.7 

Soy bean (hay) 25.6 6.8 23.3 

Red clover 20.5 3.9 16.3 

Timothy hay 9.9 3.1 13.6 

Corn stover 9.1 3.0 11.5 

Linseed meal 54.2 17.0 12.7 



34 



With these corroborative evidences of the great value of soy beans 
and feeling- sure that it must soon be developed into one of Louisiana's 
great staple crops, it is with an urgent appeal that the farmers all over 
the State are asked to try this crop, even if it be bu.t on a small scale. 
Our cotton seed mills will be glad to take care of your surplus crop. 

Plant in rows 30 to 33 inches apart. Use your corn planter (the nine- 
hole plate), which will drop them two to three inches in the drill; be- 
sure and not plant too deep, as they will not come up. 

The mammoth yellow bean is the one to plant. 



POULTRY RAISING 

T1 T HILE IT IS USUALLY regarded as a side issue on the farms, 
VV poultry raising is an important industry. Thousands of dollars' 
worth of eggs and chickens, in the aggregate, find their way to all tha 
local markets, and furnish many thrifty housewives with pocket money. 
There are many poultry breeders in the State, and thoroughbred or high- 
bred poultry are found on nearly every farm. The most popular farm 
breeds are the Leghorns, Plymouth Rocks, Langshan, Rhode Island 
Reds, Indian Game and Wyandotte, the Bronze Turkey, and the Pekin 
Duck. No better opportunity is anywhere offered than in Louisiana for 
poultry raising. 




A POULTRY FARM. 



35 
BUREAU OF MARKETING 

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT additions to the work of the Agri- 
cultural Department is the Bureau of Marketing. Every day com- 
munications are received from various pants of the State announcing 
what products they have for sale or exchange. At the same time, letters 
are received from others asking where certain animals or products can 
be procured. The department at once places these parties in communica- 
tion and thus sales or exchanges are made and nothing seems to be 
giving the farmers such general satisfaction as the Bureau of Marketing. 
The daily press publishes every week a list of the offerings and wants 
and every Monday the department sends out a bulletin embodying the 
week's work. 



RESOURCES AND POSSIBILITIES 

THE HON. JOSEPH E. RAXSDELL, while a member of Congress 
from the Fifth District, in a speech to that body, gave so much val- 
uable information concerning Louisiana that we quote with pleasure the 
following extracts: 

"The eyes of the world are today being turned toward Dixie, and in 
the next twenty-five years we are to witness a mosit marvelous develop- 
ment in that section. Long retarded and checked in growth by the civil 
war and its disastrous industrial results, the South has arisen from her 
ashes a fairer and a mightier land. She has laid aside her sable gar- 
ments and, bedecked in a gown of bright colors, is looking confidently to 
the glorious future that awaits her, for she knows that a benign Provi- 
dence has favored her above other lands, and that by virtue of her 
natural advantages she will become the most prosperous section of our 
great common country. 

We have marvelous resources of every kind and sort which are just 
beginning to be developed and in no portion of the world are there as 
good opportunities for success as in the land of Dixie. If Horace Greeley 
were alive today his advice to young men would be, "Go South!" When 
he said to them, "Go West!" a great field opened there, and many for- 
tunes were made by following his sage counsels. The scene has shifted. 
The great opportunities of the West have been seized, but there are in- 
numei-able openings in the South awaiting fertile brains and vigorous 
hands. 

If the new settler is accustomed to grain and cereals, with cattle and 
hogs, he need not change his crops or methods in the South, unless it be 
to substitute rice for wheat, should he settle in the lower half of the Gulf 
States, although wheat does well in northern portions. He need not 
me a cotton grower unless he wishes to, for corn a^d the cereals, 
with forage crops of many kinds, coupled with some branch or branches 
of animal industry — especially hogs — will furnish the most attractive and 
profitable employment. If he be a dairyman, that line is open to him 
with marked advantages in many respects. If he be a gardener or fruit 
grower, the Gulf and lower Atlantic coast sections, with immunity from 
cold and delightful climate, can not be excelled. Indeed, he can choose 
his own branch of agriculture and find ideal conditions in the South. 



36 




37 



And we would welcome them gladly. We need a great many of them. 
Why, sir, the last federal census showed the density of the population in 
the State of Texas as something like 11.6 per square mile, in Louisiana 
30.4, in Georgia 37.6, and in Arkansas 24.7 per square mile, while of New 
York it was 152.6, in New Jersey 250.3, in Ohio 102, in Pennsylvania 140.1, 
and in Massachusetts 34S.9 per square mile. The South has not been 
peopled yet; it is a new land. The best opportunities of the North and 
West have been seized and developed; but such is not true of the South, 
which still offers exceptional inducements in an3 r line of business that a 
good, industrial man wishes to pursue. 

ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

With forage crops naturally goes animal industry. There are no 
enemies to hogs, sheep, horses and mules in the Southern States which 
do not exist everywhere, and all of these animals succeed well. Our 
winters are so mild that with a proper variety of crops grazing can be 
secured every day in the year, and animals require much less dry food 
and close attention than in the North. Conditions with us are especially 
favorable to hogs, and I doubt if any State in the Republic has as many 
advantages for the lowly porker as my own Louisiana. Food crops of 
every kind grow in great profusion throughout the year, so that no hous- 
ing is necessary, and the health of the pigs is fine whenever properly 
cared for. The same is true of horses, mules and sheep. Kentucky and 
Tennessee are justly famous for the best horses and mules on the conti- 
nent, but I have seen as good animals raised in Louisiana as ever trod 
the ground. 

I am sometimes asked if we can make good butter in Louisiana. 
Yes; most emphatically. And why not? 'We have the most succulent 
grasses and clovers, and every variety of food necessary for good milk 
thrives with us. Dairying can be made a very profitable industry in 
many parts of the South, including Louisiana. 

CLIMATE. 

In point of climate the South compares favorably with any other sec- 
tion. Her summers are longer, but the extremes of heat are no greater 
than in more Northern regions, and the change from cold to heat is so 
gradual that the system becomes accustomed to it. Sunstrokes of man 
or beast are very uncommon in the South. I was born and reared in 
Louisiana, where my life has been spent, and I remember only one slight 
case of sunstroke in human beings. The nights are usually pleasant 
and sleep refreshing in the hottest weather of July and August. 

While our summers are long, our winters are very short and mild, 
and the seasons of spring and fall are delightful. Great extremes of 
cold are never experienced, and when we get a cold snap it lasts only a 
few days, followed by a greater period of warm sunshine. Farming 
operations, such as the preparation, seeding and cultivation of the soil 
are interrupted by freezes only for very brief periods in the lower tier 
of States, and are practically continuous throughout the year. Inter- 
ruption of general business by cold is almost unknown. 






HEALTH. 

There are many false impressions about the health of the South, and 
misrepresentations on this subject are prevalent. Owing- to ithe fact that 
our system of securing vital statistics is imperfect in rural districts, just 
as it is in most of the States, I can not make accurate comparisons be- 
tween different sections, but will produce enough to show any fair- 
minded man that the whites of the South are as healthy as any in the 
Union. We have in round numbers in the Southern States about 19,000,- 

000 whites and 9,500,000 negroes. The latter race is not healthy for rea- 
sons which the scope of this speech prevents me from discussing. Sta- 
tistics show a much heavier mortality among negroes than whites, hence 

1 shall refer only to Caucasians in making my comparisons. 

The mortality statistics of the United States census for 1908 show 
that in Boston, which I take as a typical Northern city, the death rate 
from all causes was as follows: 

In the year 1906, 18.9 per 1,000 souls; 1907, 19.2 per 1,000 souls; 1908, 
19.1 per thousand souls. 

While in New Orleans it was: 

In 1906, whites, 18.1 per 1,000 souls; 1907, whites, 20.1 per 1,000 souls; 
190S, whites, 19 per 1,000 souls. 

So it appears that by comparing the whites of New Orleans with the 
entire papulation of Boston, where practically all are Caucasians, we 
find exactly the same average death rate in the two cities. And I wish 
to add that since the completion of a splendid system of sewers and 
waterworks, the health of New Orleans has improved materially, and in 
1909 the death rate was only 15.52 per 1,000, according to the city of- 
ficials. 

These same census tables show: 

At Detroit, Mich., in 1906, 17 per 1,000; 1907, 16.5 per 1,000; 1S0S, 15.6 
per 1,000. 

At Savannah, Ga., in 1906, whites, 17.2 per 1,000; 1907, whites, 17.9 
per 1,000; 1908, whites, 15.1 per 1,000, or a very slight advantage for 
Detroit, which is considered one of the health resorts of the Great Lakes. 

And a^ain they show: 

New Haven, Conn., in 1906, 19.1 per 1,000; 1907, 18.6 per 1,000; 1908, 
16.9 per 1,000. 

Memphis, Tenn., in 1906, whites, 16 per 1,000; 1907, whites, 15.8 per 
1,000; 1908, whites, 15.6 per 1,000. 

Which is a decided advantage for the Southern City. 

And finally: 

Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1906, 20.8 per 1,000; 1907, 18.5 per 1,000; 1908, 18.5 
per 1,000. 

Mobile, Ala., in 1906, whites, 21 per 1,000; 1907, whites, 19 per 1,000; 
1908, whites, 17.3 per 1,000. 

Or an advantage for the city on the Gulf. 

A very interesting table giving a comparison of general death rates 
in American cities from 1S71 to 1904, inclusive, was compiled by Mr. 
Frederick Hoffman and published by the American Statistical Asso- 
ciation, March, 1906, pages 5-7. It shows that for the twenty years 1885 
to 1904, inclusive, the average mortality per 1,000 of population in 



39 



Northern and Western cities was 19.75 per annum, and of whites in 
the Southern cities it was 19.34, or a lower death rate in the cities of the 
South. 

And in considering the death rate of the South for the past twenty 
years it must be remembered 'that two of the most fatal diseases of that 
section — yellow fever and malaria — were not understood until recently. 
The last yellow fever outbreak that was in scourge could readily be 
controlled and there is no longer any reason for alarm about it. Scien- 
tists have shown our people how to prevent malaria by screening their 
houses against mosquitoes, and also that common disease-bearer, the 
house fly. No intelligent immigrant from Europe or the North need 
have any greater fear of sickness in the South that he is subject to at 
home. 

A thoroughly reliable, disinterested and competent witness on this 
subject is Dr. Walter Wyman, Surgeon-General of Public Health and 
Marine Hospital Service of our Government, who delivered an admirable 
address on "Southern Health Conditions" before the Southern Commer- 
cial Congress in this city December 7, 190S. He said: 

"Impressions have prevailed concerning health conditions in the South 
which, though perhaps justified twenty-five years ago, are now entirely 
unwarranted. A principal cause for false impression is undoubtedly 
due to yellow fever, which formerly so frequently afflicted our Southern 
States, but which, it may fairly be claimed, is no longer a factor to be 
considered in the determination of health conditions. 

"Such diseases as malaria nad typhoid fever are subject to the same 
causative agencies as prevail elsewhere; and as to tuberculosis, the cli- 
mate is favorable in (that it freely permits and encourages life in the 
open air. With regard to this and other diseases, the conditions seem 
more favorable than in colder localities where people are prone to shut 
themselves up with the disease. 

"I would not be understood to claim that sanitary or health conditions 
throughout the South are all that oould be desired, nor could I say the 
same concerning the North or any foreign country, but I do mean to say 
that, with its salubrious climate, one may settle in any of our Southern 
States and by observing for himself and his family the sanitary laws 
and principles now so well understood he will be under as favorable 
conditions for health and length of life as he could be anywhere." 

A witness from my home town, Lake Providence, in northeast Lou- 
isiana, on the banks of the Mississippi, in the very center of the big bot- 
tom lands, is Hon. E. J. Hamley, one of the best men in the State. He 
states, in a recent letter to me: 

"I will say that I left the northeastern part of Missouri for Lake 
Providence, La., in October, 1879, and I have lived here continuously 
since that time. All of my children have been born and reared in this 
town. 

"I know of no healthier part of the United States than I have found 
right here. My health and the health of my family has always been 
good, and I believe that I can honestly say that I have not spent $100 
for doctor bills for myself in the whole time I have been living here. 

"I know of no hetter and healthier country for a young man to 
make a start in than right here, provided he is willing to take off his 
coat and go to work." 



40 

0,ne of the many splendid citizens contributed by Iowa to Louisiana 
is Mr. S. Li. Cary, of Jennings, who never ceases to thank his stars for 
finding a home in the Pelican State. He writes me: 

"Next to Vermont, Louisiana has most old people to population, and 
the Gulf Coast line the lowest death rate in the States. In 1880 the 
southwest Louisiana census gave the average family nine persons. For 
home-making, the easiest, best conditoin I have ever seen, and next to 
this, money-making is easy. 

'"I was here at 56; now at 83; and the last twenty-seven years the 
healthiest and happiest of all my life. 

"As school children we were taught that Louisiana was a low, swampy, 
unhealthy country, the home of the alligator. The truth says, 'Thank 
God for the lowlands of Louisiana; 80 bushels of rice, 40 tons of sugar 
cane and $300 in oranges are entirely possible on a single acre of land." 

Another good man who went from Minnesota to Livingston Parish, 
La., is Mr. M. M. Garig, of Denham Springs, who writes: 

"The number of very old people will attest to the healthfulness of the 
country. Myself and boys work in the fields in the sun. In thirty-five 
years I have not seen a case of sunstroke. It is not nearly as hot as in 
Minnesota. Allow me to say the man that wishes to escape the rigors 
of Northern winters will make no mistake by visiting this part of the 
sunny south — Livingston Parish, La." 

And I conclude this branch of my subject with an extract from a letter 
from Dr. B. A. Ledbetter, of New Orleans, president New Orleans Med- 
ical Society, and a member of the Louisiana State Board of Health, as 
follows: 

"Your inquiry as to general health conditions of Louisiana has been 
received, and it gives me pleasure to say to you that I believe Louisiana, 
from a health standpoint, is second to no State in the Union. It is use- 
less for me to state that Louisiana, like Texas, has a variety of climate 
such as few other States enjoy. In the northern portion of our State 
you find a high, dry climate, particularly free from malaria and one of 
the best in the world for tubercular and similar diseases. In the cen- 
tral and southern portions of Louisiana the altitude is not so great. In 
south Louisiana, which includes the city of New Orleans, we have the 
delightful Gulf breezes, which make New Orleans one of the coolest and 
most delightful summer as well as winter resorts in the world." 

These two States — Louisiana and Texas — are typical of the entire 
South, and I say with the utmost candor that health, prosperity, a warm 
welcome and happiness await every immigrant to Dixie who comes to 
bear an honest man's part in his new home, and does his duty. 

THE LANDS OF THE STATE. 

Speaking of the Mississippi Valley, Mr. Joseph E. Wing, of Mechan- 
icsburg, Ohio, who is familiar with lands throughout the Union and a 
scientific as well as a practical Ohio farmer and leading business man, 
recently wrote me as follows: 

"There are millions of acres in the South that have soils richer than 
those of central Illinois, that garden spot of the corn belt. These lands 
are unoccupied or thinly inhabited. They are now dreary, desolate, 
mosquito-inhabited, moss-hung lands along various southern streams, 



41 




aft 







« -« 




42 



the swamp lands. The lands bordering- the Mississippi River are made 
from the very cream of northern soils. These soils to an immense depth 
are the deposits of silt brought down by floods from washings of Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and other rich-soiled northern States. Technic- 
ally, these soils are immensely rich in potash and phosphorus, the essen- 
tial elements of fertility. The black "buckshot" soils bordering the 
Mississippi River are also very rich in carbonate of lime. Carbonate of 
lime is the thing in soils that has always stood for enduring fertility. 
Carbonate of lime makes land ready for alfalfa and other soil-enriching 
clovers. 

"A man can take that land along the Mississippi River in Louisiana 
or one of the adjoining States and grow on it more alfalfa per acre than 
he can in Illinois or Iowa. On the alfalfa sod he can grow as much corn 
per acre as he can grow in Illinois, and perhaps he can grow more corn. 
He can live in a mild climate, delightful nearly every day from middle 
September till middle June. I firmly believe that, living right, the health 
of the white man in Louisiana will be better than the health of the man 
in Illinois, and the same is true of his family. He can grow there cheap 
bacon, beef, mules. He can grow rice, cotton if he desires, corn, alfalfa, 
wheat. Why, then, does he not do it? 

"The reason is not far to seek. The land is undrained. Only here 
and there are dry fringes along the margins of bayous. Nearly the whole 
of it is unbroken forest, submerged during pant of the year. The descent 
of the stream is too slight for drainage, the surface, of the land too flat. 
A few years ago the levees along the Mississippi River were too weak 
to afford protection. Now they are made strong, but the trouble fronv 
deficient outlet for the heavy rainfall remains. The sluggish rivers need 
straightening. The Tensas has a channel four times as long as it would 
be if a few short canals were dug across bends; maybe it is ten times 
as long as it need be, because of its tortuous course. Other streams and 
bayous are similarly tortuous. 

"Individual effort, unfortunately, can not accomplish much in solution 
of this problem. Some of the streams that block drainage are navigable 
streams. A comprehensive system of drains must be inaugurated. There 
must be main canals; these must lead to large streams; these must be 
widened in places, deepened in places, straightened. It is not a difficult 
problem. It is not even an expensive or costly thing to accomplish. A 
dollar spent in drainage here will do more than four spent in difficult 
irrigation enterprises in the West. These irrigation works are good; we 
rejoice to see them done; the whole people will be the richer for them, 
yet the Government ought not to forget its other needy territory. 

"I know well the lands of America from one end to the other. I have 
studied soils and farms and farmers from Boston to San Francisco and 
from Washington to Florida. Thus I speak with knowledge when I say 
that we have no more priceless treasure than this Delta region of the 
Mississippi. It can be made to hold thousands of farms, small farms, 
each with its home, its children, and schools. I have lived in the Delta 
in July and been there during nearly every month. White men can there 
keep strong and well if they can escape mosquito infection and sleep out 
of doors behind screens on porches during the warm weather. Malaria 



43 




44 



is easily escaped. When drainage comes, mosquitoes can be nearly erad- 
icated, and then there will be no mure malaria there than there is in 
Illinois. 

I thank Mr. Wing for these frank, truthful words. 

LOUISIANA QUEEN OF THE SOUTH. 

I must now emphasize some of the strong points of my native State, 
Louisiana — the queen of the South. 

Louisiana is unique in several particulars. A large portion of her 
surface is of recent formation, caused toy the rich sediment of the Mis- 
sissippi settling and making land as its rushing floods commingle with 
the quiet waters of the Gulf. This makes her, geologically speaking, the 
youngest of our States, and, like Benjamin, she occupies a tender spot in 
her father's heart. 

Louisiana has four great crops — sugar, rice, cotton, and corn. She 
easily leads the Union in the production of sugar and rice and is a heavy 
producer of cotton and corn. Practically every soil product and fruit of 
the Temperate Zone does' well. Her grasses and climate are admirably 
adapted to animal industry; cattle for beef and dairying, horses, mules, 
and sheep thrive; and she is the natural home of the hog, which does 
exceptionally well. Indeed, it is said by competent judges that Louisiana 
is the best State in the Union for raising hogs. 

Col. F. L. Maxwell, a Union soldier from Illinois, who cast his lot at 
Mound, Madison Parish, La., forty-five years ago, and has accumulated 
a large fortune by farming, says: 

"As requested, I give you my opinion on the advantages of Louisiana 
to the investor and home-seeker. Louisiana has some 14,000,000 acres of 
alluvial lands, only one-fifth of which are in cultivation. All of this land 
is. capable of being cultivated and can be easily and cheaply drained." 

"The opportunities in Louisiana for profitable investment to both the 
home-seeker and the investor are greater than in any other section; the 
climate is mild and healthful, without the extremes of heat and cold; 
and plenty of sunshine and rainfall (an average of about 52 inches per 
annum). We have no sunstrokes or cold blizzards; we have excellent 
churches and schools; quick and easy transportation facilities. 

"As a corn country this is not excelled by the famous Wabash and 
White River bottoms of Indiana or the corn belt of central Illinois, Iowa, 
Nebraska, or Kansas, and excels all other States in ribbon cane, cotton, 
rice, clover, alfalfa, Bermuda, peas, soy beans and all kinds of vegetables. 

"Louisiana produces the finest oranges that grow; she produces ap- 
ple's, peaches, figs, and all kinds of fruits, and is the home of the large 
pecan. The w r onderful crops of succulent grasses grown nearly all the 
year make this a great stock and dairy country, and the best mules I 
have ever owned are those I raised on my own property. Hogs, cattle, 
mules and horses can be produced cheaper than in any other section I 
know of." 

COME TO DIXIE. 

In conclusion, let me again invite to Dixie the sturdy citizens of the 
North and West who have gone to Canada, or contemplate a change of 
domicile, and all good immigrants. The South wishes them and will wel- 
come them with open arms. My own Louisiana will gladly receive a 



45 




A GOOD ROAD ALONG THE RIVER BANK. 



million such people as are exiling themselves from the best country on 
earth and the dearest flag that ever floated over freemen. The South has 
fields for corn and wheat and the cereals peculiarly classed as northern. 
She has fields for rice, cane and cotton. She has lumber and minerals 
for the Nation. She has waters for power and upon which to float the 
richest argosies. She has a climate far superior to Canada, and is as 
healthy a land as any in the Union. 

"Come, then, to the Southland, and make it your home; come to 
Louisiana." 

APPENDIX F. 

United States Department of Agriculture, 

Bureau of Plant Industry, 

Office of Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work. 

Washington, D. C, February 25, 1910. 
Hon. Jos. E. Ransdell, M. C, 
Washington, D. C. 
My Dear Congressman: You have asked me to give an opinion on the 
agricultural possibilities of the South. The subject is so large that it will 
be necessary for me to classify and consider it under about four heads, as 
follows: 

1. Corn, hay, pasture, and forage crops. 

2. Stock raising. 

3. Fiber plants. 

4. Truck farming. 



46 

It has been thought till recently that the South would not raise large 
crops of Indian corn, but a little demonstration has proven that the soils 
and climate are specially adapted for that purpose and that larger crops 
can be raised than in the so-called corn States. Climatic conditions are 
much more favorable for the corn plant, and as a large portion of the 
plant is of atmospheric origin, climate is of primary consideration. All 
that is necessary is to prepare the soil in the best way and use good farm 
methods, and the South will develop into one of the best corn regions of 
the United States. We have produced the past year under test from 80 
to 150 bushels of corn per acre. For pasture and hay the South is also 
superior to most of the Northern States, first because of the greater rain- 
fall and secondly because of more favorable climatic conditions. The 
reason the South has not developed in this line is because the farmers 
have been so engrossed in other crops that they have paid but little 
attention to hay and pasture lands and have failed to use the best meth- 
ods. Under trial the past year we have been able to produce from four 
to six tons of hay per acre where the soil was thoroughly prepared and 
the proper seed used. Then, there is a great variety of forage plants, 
such as the velvet beans, the cowpea, soy beans, Japan ribbon cane, etc., 
that grow with amazing vigor in the Southern S.tates and are exceed- 
ingly nutritious, so th*.t there can be an abundant supply for stock all 
seasons of the year. 

In three respects a large portion of the South is superlatively adapted 
to stock raising; first, because of the abundant forage that can be pro- 
vided, as stated above, and, secondly, because of the temperature, which 
is so mild that it does not tax the vitality of the animal, an d it reduces 
the amount of food necessary to sustain life and vigor; thirdly; as com- 
pared with the extreme North, there is a great reduction in the expense 
of providing shelter in the winter, all of which means an addition to the 
vigor of the animal and its immunity from disease, such as tuberculosis, 
etc. Then, the longer period of pasture makes it more economical. The 
comparatively low price of lumber for building purposes is another im- 
portant item. 

These facts are especially emphasized in case of pork production. 
Hogs can be pastured the year round on a variety of pasture forage that 
will nearly mature them for market without the addition of corn. Under 
the final adjustment of agriculture in the United States I believe that a 
large portion of the South will be found preeminently adapted to dairy- 
ing; to the production of horses, mules, and swine; poultry; and in the 
mountain districts to sheep; that it will be found that they can be raised 
more economically there than in most any other portion of the world. 

It is simply necessary to call attention to the great value of southern 
conditions for the production of the semi-tropical plants, sugar cane, rice 
and cotton, three of the best cash crops in the world. The United States 
already produces 70 per cent of the fiber that practically clothes the 
world. The rich alluvial lands along the Gulf are well adapted to the 
sugar cane. The river bottoms and the coastal prairies take kindly to 
rice and produce it in great Quantities. The past year an experiment 
made by our department showed 93 bushels per acre of rice. Nearly all 
the Southern States produce cotton. As an example of what can be real- 
ized in cotton, some very sandy lands the past year produced as high as 
two bales, netting the owner more than $100 per acre. 



47 

\lon«* the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and even in the interior, are large 
tracts of sandy loam land perfectly adapted to truck-growing. They 
have not as yet been more than partially developed, but ultimately they 
are -oing to constitute the permanent garden lands of the United States. 
Single acres have yielded in celery, lettuce, and such crops more than 
$1,000 per acre. 

It is unnecessary to dilate upon these facts. The South has not been 
understood; neither its soil nor its climate has been appreciated. Lands 
are far below their value at the present time, and there is no better place 
on the continent for young, thrifty, and vigorous men to start in agri- 
culture than in many of these Southern States. 
Respectfully submitted, 

S. A. KNAPP, Special Agent in Charge. 

APPENDIX L. 
"A Belgian's Opportunities in Louisiana." 

(Speech of August Van Asselburg before the Louisiana Farm Lands 
.Congress at Alexandria, La., April 22, 1910.) 
Louisiana is the home of a Belgian farmer. As I say this, I am talk- 
ing about that farmer what got to rent his farm. The poor farmer in 
Belgium never will be the owner of a farm. Plenty of it never will be 
the owner of a horse. Some of it can go as far as that they got a little old 
Shetland pony, but the most of it do the plow work with his milk cow 
and the wagon work with the wheelbarrow, and then he make only one 
crop in the year, and pays $10 to $15 per acre for rent and about $1 
per acre for license (contribution). 

I was working a farm in Belgium of 30 acres. It cost me every year 
$240 rent, license included, and I was as good a farmer and as good a 
worker as any Belgian man, and at the age of 36 years, working day and 
night to save expenses of hired hands, I got nothing. Was not paid for 
my work. I could show no money, only we was making a living; what 
are called at the present day a poor living; and I was thinking on giving 
up farming, for it was too hard to keep it up any longer. But it hap- 
pened that an old Belgian farmer came to the old country on a visit 
from Alexandria, Rapides Parish, in May, 1902. The people told me that 
he was good looking and that he got plenty of money and that he got a 
farm of 100 acres of his own. It was a wonder to me how that could be, 
for I know that he left the old country without a nickel. But one time 
I meet the old man, and he told me the story in Belgium. He told me 
of the happy farm life in Louisiana. It was hard to believe it, but today 
it is proven to me that the old man was right, and it was more happy 
than he told me. 

I came to Alexandria in September, 1903, beginning to farm in 1904, 
" and right now I can say thafa good and saving Belgian farmer in Alex- 
andria can furnish his table with that stuff to eat the year round as the 
rich man do in Belgium, and generally that it left always a little money 
on top each year. This is proven by every Belgian farmer of Alexan- 
dria: about all of them got his own farm and nobody came here with 



48 

money. Some of it count his property by hundreds of acres and all that 
came from the farm, and no wonder to me. We make here two and 
three crop per year, and each one is more valuable than the one crop 
in Belgium, and we pa}- here not half the rent, and the expenses are not 
as big as in Belgium. 

To close, I can say, and it is proven by me, that I make during five 
years working as a truck farmer several thousand dollars clear money, 
and it happened last year, 1909, that I make between $4,000 and $5,000 
clear money on not quite 50 acres of ground; and then another thing, 
if it was that you not make that money that I am talking about, what 
is possible to do for a Belgian farmer, it will pay him all right to come 
here and go to farming and see the happiness of his family. 



OPENINGS IN THE SOUTH 



A REMARKABLE REVIEW of the present status of the South was 
given in the Senate Friday by Senator Ransdell, of Louisiana. 
His presentation of the conditions, resources and needs of the 
South was masterly for its grasp of general questions and its wealth of 
detail. The wonderful riches of that splendid region, in soil, minerals, 
timbers, waters and climate, together with the opportunities that await 
enterprising settlers, were never set forth more impressively. Senator 
Ransdell's speech is a compendium of information which every American 
should read and every homeseeker take to heart. 

It is gratifying that the new spirit of the South is for immigration 
and expansion. Its people no longer look indifferently upon the rich and 
vitalizing flood of immigration that swept to the West and built up 
empires, while passing by the greater opportunities in the South. The 
departure of tens of thousands of Americans for Canada, taking millions 
of dollars with them, has aroused the South and caused it to make an 
appeal to these citizens to turn southward instead of northward when 
they seek to better their condition. 

Unquestionably the region under the American flag that will make 
greatest strides in the next decade is the South, from Virginia to south- 
ern California. Already the movement is in full swing, as is shown by 
increasing land values, bigger and more diversified crops, extension of 
mining, manufactures and commerce, road building, rising cities and 
great prosperity. The climate facilitates agricultural development in all 
directions, and the water resources excel those of any other part of the 
Union. 

The senator from Louisiana has performed an act of patriotism in 
directing the attention of his countrymen to the undeveloped riches of 
the South and the opportunities that await desirable immigrants from 
the North. Doubtless many a man will date the turn in the tide of his, 
fortunes from the hour when he received and acted upon the hints in 
Senator Ransdell's speech. — Reprinted from The Washington Post. 



49 
The Lure of the Southland 

MR. RANSDELL: 

Mr. President, while the Agricultural bill is under consideration, I 
desire to address the Senate in regard to several matters which concern 
very closely the farmers of the United States and, indeed, the country at 
large. I allude to the large exodus of our best citizens into the British 
possessions north of the United States, and to the rapid congestion of 
our cities caused by the growing unpopularity of life on the farm, and 
by the large influx of foreign immigrants, the majority of whom settle 
in cities. I shall explain these questions briefly, for there is little dispute 
concerning them, and shall offer at some length what seems to me the 
best solution of these problems, which is that these people should go 
south and reap the benefit of its golden opportunities. 

THE SOUTH THE NATION'S HOPE. 

The eyes of the world are turned to the southern portion of our 
Republic, and Ave are witnessing a marvelous development in that sec' 
tion. Long retarded and checked in growth by the War between the 
States and its disastrous consequences, the South has arisen from her 
ashes a fairer and mightier land. The ravages of the war were fearful. 
In 1860 the value of taxable property in the South was six and one-third 
billion dollars, while in 1870 it had fallen to three and one-half billions, a 
decrease of nearly 50 per' cent because of the war. In addition to this 
economic loss, hundreds of thousands of her sons had sacrificed their 
lives in her cause. 

But the South was rich in the indomitable spirit of her citizens. "With 
the same resistless energy and do-or-die perseverance that had charcter- 
ized their actions during the war, the men and women of the South 
turned their attention to the pursuits of peace. Literally they converted 
"their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks." 

I am not here, however, to recite the disasters that befell my section 
in the sixties. These facts are matters of history. It is my purpose, how- 
ever, to show how the South, in spite of all obstacles, has not only kept 
pace with but has actually outstripped the rest of the Nation. 

She has laid aside her sable garments and, bedecked in a gown of 
bright colors, is enjoying her marvelous present prosperity and looking 
forward confidently to a still more glorious future, for she knows that a 
benign Providence has favored her above other lands, and that by virtue 
of her natural advantages and the enterprise and genius of her people 
she is becoming the most prosperous section of our great common coun- 
try. Southward the star of empire takes its course. 

I shall call your attention to the limitless resources of this great 
region; to its agricultural products, which include the best of nearly 
every known crop; to its live stock, which graze on land as rich as any 
in the world; to its inexhaustible treasuries of timber and mineral 
wealth; to its vast manufacturing industries; to its colossal mercantile 
and banking interests; to its admirable transportation system by road, 
rail, and river; to its golden opportunities for willing hands and honest 
hearts; to its crying need for men and money; and, above all, to its 
potential possibilities which make the South the Nation's greatest asset. 
It has been the habit for certain gentlemen from other sections to 
smile tolerantly when some one from the South painted in bright colors 
the glories of Dixie. Some people have a sort of hazy idea that the South 
is a land of poetry and indolence; of romance and pretty women; of lazy 
negroes, who bask in the semitropical sun; and that our products are 



50 

limited principally to cotton, tobacco, and lumber. I shall attempt to 
correct these misapprehensions. 

It is not my purpose to make any boast for the South. I shall call the 
attention of the Senate to some plain facts which must be recognized, 
?nd the sooner the better, not only for the South but also for the North, 
L ast, and West, for in the cooperative development of all parts of our 
Nation alone is true prosperity to be found. 

The South, consisting of the sixteen States of Alabama, Arkansas, 
Fl rida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, 
North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, 
and West Virginia, comprises an area of 945,000 square miles, approxi- 
mately one-third the total area of the country. Its population in 1915 
was about 35,000,000, or an average of about 37 people to the square mile. 
These figures show that the South comprises as much territory as 
Prance, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, and Spain com- 
bined, but these nations have an average density of population of 338 to 
the square mile. Think of it, Mr. President! Thirty-seven people to the 
square mile in the South and in the European countries I have mentioned 
338 to the square mile. The mere statement of these facts indicates the 
room for expansion. 

Our doors are open wide to all desirable immigrants, especially those 
from other States. The South will gladly furnish homes to every one of 
our splendid citizens who has gone to Canada or contemplates such a 
move, and would welcome all the boys and girls who have left, or expect 
to leave, the hardships of northern and eastern farms to seek unfamiliar 
work in congested cities. We can supply farms to a great many of the 
foreigners who seek our shores, and we are really anxious to receive all 
good people from whatever land they come. We have great resources of 
every kind and sort which are just beginning to be developed, and in no 
portion of the world are there as good opportunities for success as in the 
land of Dixie. If Horace Greely were alive today, his advice to young 
men would be, "Go South." When he said to them, "Go West," a great 
field opened there, and many fortunes were made by following his safe 
counsels. The scene has shifted. The great opportunities of the West 
have been seized, but there are innumerable openings in the South 
awaiting fertile brains and willing hands. 

THE SOUTH NEEDS MEN AND MONEY. 

With all her marvelous resources begging for further development, 
the most crying need of the South is men and money. I can not impress 
too strongly upon you that the South needs labor and capital; and I 
assert that returns from investments there will astound even the most 
sanguine. 

We have many advantages over Canada, where the winters are so 
long and severe as to make life very uncomfortable for man and beast, 
and to restrict agriculture to wheat, and the hardiest cereals, vegetables, 
and fruits. 

In the South there is every variety of crop and every form of animal 
life thrives. Our winters are so mild that light clothing and a small 
amount of fuel suffices, and one can work out of doors practically every 
day in the year. Our summer heats are not as great as those of Canada, 
and our white farmers work in the fields throughout the hottest weather 
with impunity. 

Between 1900 and 1910 farm values in the entire Union increased 108 
per cent, while in the South -they advanced 136 per cent. I hope Senators 
are paying attention to some of these comparisons. Figures are a little 



51 

dull, but those who listen to me will ascertain from cold facts that the 
South is going- forward with much greater rapidity in every line than 
any other section of this Nation. 

THE SOUTH'S VARIED FARM PRODUCTS. 

Every variety of soil can be procured in the South — from the rich 
sugar and rice lands of Louisiana to the fertile corn, melon, and peach 
fields of Georgia and South Carolina; from the blue grass and limestone 
of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, with their wonderful horses, 
mules, and hogs, to the fertile plains of Texas, with its vast herds of 
cattle and sheep; from the tobacco and peanuts of North Carolina and 
Virginia to the wheat and oats of Maryland and Oklahoma; from the 
orange, the grapefruit, and the figs of Florida and Louisiana to the 
delicious apples of West Virginia and Arkansas; and from the succulent 
Johnson and Bermuda grasses of Alabama to the alfalfa, lespedeza, and 
other clovers of Mississippi, .where hogs and cattle luxuriate. Cotton 
flourishes in 11 of them and wheat does well in many sections. If the 
new settler is accustomed to grain and cereals, with cattle and hogs, he 
need not change his crops or methods in the South, unless it be to sub- 
stitute rice for wheat, should he settle in the lower half of the Gulf 
States, although wheat does well in northern portions. He need not 
become a cotton grower unless he wishes to, for corn and the cereals, 
with forage crops of many kinds, coupled with some branch or branches 
of animal industry, especially hogs, will furnish the most attractive and 
profitable employment. If he be a dairyman, that line is open to him 
with marked advantages in many respects. If he be a gardener or fruit 
grower, the Gulf and lower Atlantic coast sections, with immunity from 
cold, and delightful climate, can not be excelled. Indeed, he can choose 
his own branch of agriculture and find ideal conditions in the South. 

OTHER INDUSTRIES OF THE SOUTH. 

But suppose he be a manufacturer? We are now manufacturing fully 
on^-half of the cotton made in the United States. We are manufacturing 
an immense quantity of iron and steel. We are manufacturing about 
one-half of all the lumber in the United States, and our timber supply 
is immense. 

Every kind and sort of manufacturing is going forward by leaps and 
bounds. We have innumerable manufacturing establishments converting 
our vast wealth of raw material from field, forest, and mine into finished 
products. If he be a school-teacher, a banker, a railroad or steamboat 
man, we can furnish him splendid schools, banks, railroads, and navi- 
gable rivers. If he be a merchant, we have a population of 35,000,000, 
with many fine cities and towns and every line of mercantile business. 
If he be a miner, we can show him mines of everything in the mineral 
calendar. Our supplies of coal, iron, phosphate, marble, limestone, baux- 
ite, salt, sulphur, oil, gas, and so forth, are inexhaustible and just begin- 
ning to be developed. He can select his own calling and find oppor- 
tunities in the South, under a mild, delightful climate, and, as I shall 
show later, under as good health conditions as anywhere in the United 
States. 

When a man is about to change his residence, the first question that 
suggests itself to him is, What are the climatic and health conditions in 
my prospective home? He wishes to assure himself that he and his 
family can live in health and comfort in the new home. Since health 
and climate are considerations of such primary importance to those who 
contemplate a change of residence, I shall go somewhat into detail on 
both subjects. 



52 

THE SOUTHERN CLIMATE— THE NATION'S BEST. 

The climate of the South is one of its most valuable assets. While all 
countries may not grow cotton, corn, or wheat, they all have certain 
characteristic weather conditions which, in the aggregate, go to make up 
climate, and oftentimes the climate of a country is its blessing or its 
curse, fixed and unchangeable. If a blessing, it remains as a permanent 
asset that can never be taken away or appreciably changed by the agency 
of man; and if a curse, no hope for better things can ever foe entertained. 
Happily our southland is blessed with a climate which compares 
favorably with that of any other section of North America and has great 
advantages over many of them, especially the British Northwest, or even 
that .of the more northern sections of our own country. This is true both 
from the standpoint of successful agricultural, manufacturing, and com- 
mercial enterprises and that of personal health and comfort. 

In farming, as in any other occupation, the yearly profits are largely 
proportional to the total time during which'work may foe prosecuted, and 
herein lies the South's most important asset as an agricultural region. 
The farmer's profits are produced in nature's workshop, and, other things 
being equal, the section in which she holds open shop longest and does 
the largest number of hours' work during the year is the locality in 
which the largest profits should result. The growing season is the period 
each year in which the farmer's profits must be made. During the re- 
mainder of the year not only are dividend-producing farm operations 
practically at a standstill but many expenses must be incurred and much 
of the products of the growing season are necessarily consumed. 

In the British possessions immediately north of the United States and 
also in the adjoining States of the Union the length of the crop-growing 
season, on the average, is from 115 to 140 days, while over the Southern 
States it is more than 250 days. Thus the profit-producing period is 
only about 35 per cent of the year in these northern districts, while it is 
about 75 per cent in the South, and the consuming and profitless portion 
of the year ranges from 25 per cent in the South to something like 65 
per cent in the North. 

With the diversified farming operations that are rapidly being adopted 
in the South and the generous response of its soil to improved methods 
of cultivation, the factor of nearly continuous production throughout the 
year becomes one of great importance, and should be given weighty con- 
sideration in any comparison of the relative value of different communi- 
ties for the pursuit of agricultural enterprises. 

There are many other important features, from an agricultural stand- 
point, in which the South has great advantages, among which may be 
mentioned the period in which it is possible to plant crops. In the case 
of corn, for instance, the crop in many of our so-called great corn States, 
in order to mature before the usual early autumn frost, must be planted 
within a definite short period of time, and if unfavorable weather pre- 
vails during that period or immediately preceding it, delaying the seeding 
or preparation of soil, great damage is almost certain to result if the 
usual early frost is not delayed, especially if rapid growth be retarded by 
cool weather during the season. Just such conditions as these prevailed 
only last year in many portions of the northern corn belt, and vast 
damage resulted to the crop. In the 'South the long period in which 
planting may be done and the ample length of the growing season obvi- 
ates such disasters and insures a crop free of frost injury. 

The long growing season also makes possible such a diversity of 
crops that no serious and widespread disasters, due to drought or 
otherwise, as befall less favored one or two crop communities, are pos- 



53 

sible. In case of prospective failure of one crop, it is frequently possible 
to replant and grow another of the same or different character during 
the same season. 

Next to temperature, which determines the length of the growing 
season as above outlined, the most important climatic element from an 
agricultural standpoint is rainfall, and here again the South is amply 
supplied and has the advantage, when compared with our neighboring 
Canadian Provinces and Northern States. In the latter sections the 
average annual rainfall is much less than in the South and consequently 
damaging droughts are of more frequent occurrence. Its abundant pre- 
cipitation and infrequent disastrous droughts insure the South a remark- 
ably uniform crop production, as is evidenced by comparing the average 
per-acre yield of cotton year by year. A failure is unknown and the 
production year after year is comparatively constant. 

From the facts hrought out in the foregoing remarks, it appears un- 
questionable that from a purely business standpoint there are afforded 
in the South unparalleled opportunities for wide-awake, progressive 
farmers or business men. However, there are other considerations to 
be taken into account when one is deciding upon a location for a perma- 
nent home, one of the most important of which is personal comfort as 
determined by climatic conditions. 

It has been recognized that in the Gulf country the winters are ideal, 
as evidenced by the large number of visitors who seek our sunshine and 
balmy breezes during every winter season. Unfortunately, however, the 
impression that the South is almost unbearably warm during the sum- 
mer season seems to have much credence in some of the more northern 
localities, and I wish to go briefly into the actual facts of the case in 
order that that erroneous conception may be dispelled. A number of 
interesting tables and charts, showing tne climatic characteristics of the 
Gulf States and also like information for the British Northwestern Prov- 
inces and the adjoining Northern States of the Union, have been kindly 
furnished me by Prof. Charles F. Marvin, Chief of the Weather Bureau. 
(See Appendix A.) These disclose the facts in the case, which not only 
emphasize the unquestioned advantage of our winter climate but also 
explode the popular but erroneous impression regarding the heat condi- 
tions in the summer. For example, we find in the latter that the average 
January temperature in New Orleans is 53 degrees, while in portions of 
the extreme northern Plains States and the adjoining Canadian prov- 
inces it is from zero to about 10 degrees below. On the other hand, por- 
tions of the summers are frequently hot in the northern sections, the 
temperature during the day, in fact, often going higher than along the 
Gulf coast. These give temperature ranges frequently too great for 
persons unaccustomed to such variations. At Prince Albert, Saskatche- 
wan, the average temperature for July is about 70 degrees warmer than 
for January, while in New Orleans the difference in the average January 
and July temperatures is only 28 degrees. 

In North Dakota the temperature each winter, on an average, falls at 
some time to more than 30 degrees below zero and rises to 100 degrees 
each summer, making an average annual range of more than 130 degrees. 
In New Orleans the average of the lowest reached each year is 26 de- 
grees, and the average of the highest 97 degrees, making an annual 
rang of only 71 degrees, as compared with 130 in the other case. Thus, 
while the winters are balmy and pleasant in the South and cold, bleak, 
and disagreeable in the North, the maximum summer heat is frequently 
greater in the latter than is experienced in the Gulf coast section. In 
this connection I desire to call special attention to the fact that, while the 
average lowest winter temperature in Louisiana is 56 degrees higher 



54 



than in North Dakota, the average highest summer temperature is 3 
degrees lower in Louisiana than it is in North Dakota, these figures 
being from the official Weather Bureau reports. 

Mr. President and Senators, are not these figures very striking? Are 
they not remarkable? It is 56 degrees colder in winter on an average in 
North Dakota than it is in Louisiana, and 3 degrees warmer in summer 
in North Dakota than it is in Louisiana. These figures are not mine, for 
they are taken from the official Weather Bureau reports. 

The degree of discomfort experienced in hot weather is determined 
not only by the air temperature but also by the relative humidity. The 
actual amount of moisture in the air has but little physical influence on 
plant or animal life, it being the relation of the amount present to that 
necessary to cause saturation which affects our sensibilities. Thus, while 
the atmosphere of the Southern States contains much more actual mois- 
ture than the more northern localities previously mentioned, which in- 
sures, ordinarily, an abundant rainfall, no such variation is shown in the 
relative humidity, which does not differ greatly for the two localities, 
and the physical discomfort due to high humidity is but little more per- 
ceptible in the southern country than to the northward. 

As still further evidence in refuting assertions that our summer 
weather is oppressively warm, I wish to call attention to the fact that 
sunstrokes are almost unknown in the South. During the prevalence of 
hot waves the daily press of other sections announces numerous cases 
of heat prostrations, but if you will note the headlines you will find the 
Southland is conspicuous by the absence of such cases. 

Mr. President, I have lived all my life in the South, and I have never 
known a case of sunstroke in my immediate locality. I have read of a 
great many cases in the northern and middle portions of this country, 
and I have heard of a very few in the cities of the South; but in my 
section of Louisiana I have never known of a single case. 

In the winter we read of people perishing from cold in the North, and 
in the summer of their dying from heat, but throughout the year the 
South continues to smile and extend a welcome to all who may be far- 
sighted enough to take advantage of the opportunity to reside where' 
financial and commercial advantages are unlimited and where outdoor 
life can be enjoyed throughout the year. 

HEALTH CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTH. 

From the viewpoint of health the South is as fortunate as it is in 
climate. The greatest change effected in this section during the past 
decade has been accomplished through sanitation — a change which is 
perhaps more noticeable in the South than in any other portion of the 
United States. The South has had a hygienic rehabilitation, and from 
a condition of sanitary chaos has moved forward to the front rank of the 
vanguard of modern countries. The work has been performed quietly 
but thoroughly, until today life expectancy with us is the same as in 
the Northern States and the incidence of disease is no greater than else- 
where. This is because the South has learned the lesson of disease pre- 
vention and has put sanitary principles into actual practice. 

In spite of this wonderful advancement — an advancement which is 
fully confirmed by our mortality tables — much misconception still re- 
mains concerning the healthfulness of the South. This misconception is 
due to a number of causes, fallacies which the general public know 
nothing about and which they do not thoroughly investigate. Erroneous 
impressions still prevail as to the healthfulness of this region, and many 
still suppose that our climate and other natural conditions are conducive 
to the development of disease, whereas quite the opposite is the case. 



55 

Many similar erroneus impressions have arisen, most of which are based 
upon ignorance of all the facts. It is my desire to invite your attention 
in a general way to what has been accomplished in the conservation of 
human life, presenting certain comparative mortality tables and leaving 
you to draw your own conclusions therefrom. 

The fact that epidemics of disease have in years gone by swept over 
the South is reason enough for many to suppose that those diseases are 
still present. This is a decided misconception. It is true that the South 
has been visited in the past by many frightful epidemics — epidemics 
which the older residents still recall. These visitations of disease often 
came upon us without warning and we were helpless before them, for we 
knew nothing of their causes and their means of prevention. Now all 
this has changed. We have definite knowledge of the means of dissemi- 
nation of practically all of the infections to which we are subject, and 
their prevention is based upon the most simple facts — facts which the 
children master in their lessons at school. These principles have been 
put into practical and almost universal application, and as a result the 
South is freer today from the presence of epidemic disease than any 
other section of our country. 

It is true that certain infections still exist, as, for instance, measles, 
diphtheria, and whooping cough, but their incidence is far less than in 
many other sections of the United States, and they are not attended 
with nearly the mortality of the same diseases in colder climates. For 
example, measles in the South is a comparatively mild and harmless af- 
fection, usually unattended with complications, whereas in the colder 
portions of our country it constitutes one of the most fatal diseases of 
children. Pneumonia is another disease which with us is not only con- 
siderably less virulent but is also far less common than in other climates, 
this fact being generally recognized by the public. 

Influenza, commonly called la grippe, is also rarer. Epidemics of all 
of these diseases are far less common than in the North, apparently 
being held in abeyance by the favorable climatic conditions. No better 
proof of this could be cited than the widespread epidemic of influenza 
and pneumonia which swept the country during the past winter. Every- 
where these infections were reported as unusually virulent and attended 
with an unprecedented mortality, but south of the Ohio River their 
severity was much less pronounced and the actual number of cases re- 
ported not nearly as great. 

Practically all of the infectious diseases indigenous to the South have 
now been conquered, and yellow fever, malaria, dengue, and hookworm 
have to a great extent been robbed of their terrors. This is because the 
essential facts concerning the transmission of these diseases are thor- 
oughly established and our southern communities have adopted simple 
and effective measures for their control. The diseases which are more 
prevalent in the North — e. g., pneumonia, influenza, and the acute infec- 
tions of childhood — continue there with almost unabated sway, because 
the knowledge concerning their dissemination is incomplete and the 
methods of their prevention less satisfactory. The figures relating to 
the presence of the infections mentioned will altogether bear out this 
statement. 

There has not been a case of yellow fever in the South since the in- 
fection was eradicated 11 years ago under the leadership of the Public 
Health Service, and with our knowledge of its dissemination through the 
medium of the Stegomyia mosquito, an insect which is finding its habitat 
more and more restricted, there is not the slightest danger of its spread 
should by any chance an infected person happen to pass through one of 
the numerous efficient quarantine stations. The disease, as far as the 
South is concerned, is a matter of history, and as a factor in present-day 



56 

problems has been relegated by sanitation to the realm of remote possi- 
bility. Similarly dengue, a disease also transmitted by a species of 
mosquito, has almost entirely disappeared. In going over the records 
for the past 10 years I was unable to find a single instance of an epi- 
demic of this disease in any Southern State, a few isolated cases occur- 
ring only during that period. All through the South there are physicians 
who have been engaged in active practice for a dozen or fifteen years 
who have never seen a single case of either yellow fever or dengue and 
who probably never will. 

Malaria is being rapidly exterminated and there are sections where it 
is no more prevalent than in many districts of the West and Xorth. In 
the early days of Ohio, Illinois, and even of many Eastern States fever 
and ague was common enough, but as the land was settled and the 
swamps drained the disease disappeared, although the reason for its 
disappearance was not at that time recognized, for we then knew nothing 
of the means of transmission through the Anopheles mosquito. Every 
fact in connection with the prevention of malaria is now definitely 
established and in the majority of southern towns and cities put into 
actual practice. Houses are screened, the land drained, pools oiled, and 
personal prophylaxis instituted wherever it is necessary, so that the 
disease in the South is now comparatively rare and in many communities 
altogether absent. 

The incidence of hookworm is rapidly becoming less and less. Whether 
it was as important a disease to the South as has been made to appear is 
questionable, certainly under present conditions of life it is relatively 
inconsequential. 

Pellagra still exists, but our knowledge of the disease has rapidly 
widened and discoveries made within the last year by the Public Health 
Service lead us to believe that the condition is distinctly curable as well 
as entirely preventable. With the better dissemination of knowledge 
concerning its prevention and cure, it is confidently expected that pel- 
lagra will soon be relegated to the same position that yellow fever now 
occupies. 

A factor of importance in producing a widespread misconception of 
the healthfulness of the South on the part of those unfamiliar with 
conditions has been the presence of the negro. It is well recognized 
that the mortality among negroes is naturally much higher than among 
whites, in some instances being more than twice that of the white race, 
but many people fail to consider this point when making an analysis of 
health conditions. Were the subject viewed with this fact in mind an 
entirely different interpretation would foe given to the mortality figures 
of this region and a much more correct opinion would be formed as to 
the healthfulness of the South. That this is so can, I believe, be dem- 
onstrated within a very few moments. 

Wherever accurate figures are maintained, the colored death rate in 
the United States is higher than the white death rate, this being true 
without exception for every section of the country. During the year 1913, 
the last period for which we have the complete returns, the death rate 
among whites for the entire registration area was 13.7 per 1,000 of popu- 
lation, while that among negroes was 21.9, a difference of over 60 per 
cent. In certain sections of the country the disparity was even more 
pronounced. Necessarily, then, those areas having a large percentage of 
negroes will show a high 'general death rate, the figures for the general 
population being distorted by those for the negro. For this reason any 
comparison of crude and uncorrected death rates of northern and south- 
ern communities is an unfair comparison. If the people are divided into 
two classes, the whites and the blacks, the comparison becomes entirely 
legitimate and should lead to much more correct conclusions. 



57 

Comparison of southern cities with northern cities is instructive. 

The colored death rate itself is steadily and rapidly falling-, another 
proof of our improved sanitary conditions. In Mobile the colored death 
rate has been reduced IS per cent during the past 12 years and in Jack- 
sonville 26 per cent, while similar reductions were made in Atlanta and 
Louisville. At present the colored death rate is not a whit higher than 
the general death rate 20 years ago of Boston, New York, and other 
cities. In the rural sections this improvement in health conditions has 
been even more pronounced, and the negro rural dweller of the South 
has today the same life expectancy as the city dweller of Hartford, 
Conn.; Portland, Me.; or Ashland, Wis. 

I cannot leave this subject without referring to the magnificent work 
which has been done in Xew Orleans in the eradication of bubonic plague 
and the way in which that city has gone about making of itself "the city 
sanitary." The commercial relations of that great port made it natural 
that plague should be introduced there through the intermediation of 
shipping. When the disease appeared we did not attempt to hide it. 
Instead, we announced the fact fearlessly and freely to the whole world. 
Our State and city governments united in asking that the General Gov- 
ernment loan us its expert officers to lead the campaign. The public 
and the private purse was opened freely, and there occurred a sanitary 
renaissance which was unexampled in this or any other country. Today 
New Orleans is clean. Today Xew Orleans is the most rat-proof city in 
America, and it wall not be long before it is the most sanitary in the 
United States. The work which has been done has not been spasmodic 
or temporary in character. It has been built for all time. Stone, con- 
crete, and masonry have been installed, and, while the danger of a great 
epidemic has long passed, still the work goes forward with unabated 
vigor to the end that the great gateway of the Mississippi Valley shall 
be secure against disease. Our people know the lesson of plague, and/ 
never again will the dread pestilence menace the people of Louisiana. 
The example of Xew Orleans has been followed by many of the other 
southern cities. Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and many of the other 
Southern States have passed and are enforcing rigid anti-plague laws. 
Even some of the northern cities have profited from this demonstration, 
and Philadelphia and Baltimore have fallen into line for this much- 
needed civic improvement. 

This whole subject of the sanitary condition of the Southland is of 
such great importance and so dear to my heart that I could continue to 
give you examples of the healthfulness of our section of the country, the 
sanitary intelligence of our people, and the hygienic tenor of their lives. 
I could tell of the way we teach health and hygiene and sanitation in our 
schools, academies, and colleges. I could dilate on the way in which we 
endeavor to throw about all our people, whether they live in crowded 
city, obscure hamlet, or remote farm, the 'benefits which have come to 
us through the application of the principles of modern sanitary science. 
But the limitations of time forbid. The actual healthfulness of this sec- 
tion of the country is the answer to him who would controvert my state- 
ment that the South is the most healthful portion of our great Republic, 
and he w r ho dwells there is assured of length of life, peace, and security 
from disease. 

But one needs more than good health and a pleasant climate. Hence 
I must describe some of the other advantages of this region. 

THE AGRICULTURAL HEART OF THE NATION. 

The South is preeminently an agricultural section, and her strides in 
this direction are truly amazing". In 1915 the gain in the value of all farm 
crops in the United States over 1914 was $526,000,000. Of this gain 



58 

$317,209,000, or a little over 60 per cent, was in the South. Remember, 
the South occupies only one-third the total area of the country, and this 
one-third produced 60 per cent of the agricultural increase. In other 
words, the South is advancing three times as fast agriculturally as the 
rest of the Nation. Nor is this increase due to cotton. The 1915 cotton 
crop was valued at $750,000,000, while the value of diversified crops, such 
as grain, sugar, hay, tobacco, vegetables, fruits, and so forth, and ex- 
clusive of live stock, was $1,957,000,000, or two and one-half times as 
great as cotton. If we include live stock, the total value of all southern 
farm products, exclusive of cotton, was $2,850,000,000 in 1915, or nearly 
four times the value of the cotton crop. 

KING COTTON. 

Cotton, the monarch of southern agriculture, is too well known to 
make it necessary for me to say much in regard to it. This crop has 
ever been, and will continue to be, the principal money crop of the 
Nation, for, while corn has much greater actual value, it is not con- 
verted into money like cotton, but is largely consumed on the farm 
and sold indirectly. The southern cotton crop last year, including the 
seed, sold for about $750,000,000, and it is one of the greatest of our 
national assets. 

Cotton is one of the chief instrumentalities through which the United 
States has attained its dominant commercial position. All the gold and 
silver produced in the world in any one year in the last 35 would not be 
sufficient to purchase last year's southern cotton crop. In fact, the value 
of the world's entire production of gold and silver during the past 35 
years is nearly $6,000,000,000 less than the total value of the south's 
cotton crops for the same period. The cotton crop ranges in value from 
$750,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 annually, and amounts to 60 per cent of the 
world's total cotton .production. 

Raw cotton is the commodity which gives the United States the great 
balance of trade in its favor. Cotton represents approximately 30 per 
cent in value of our annual exports, and it is this great southern staple 
which places the rest of the world in our debt. 

But the prospective immigrant may object that cotton is distinctively 
a crop adapted to negro labor, and that a white man is not well fitted to 
grow it. This is entifely erroneous. I insert as Appendix B a census 
table showing the acreage, yield, and value of cotton grown by all farm- 
ers, and by colored farmers in 1909. These are the latest available 
figures. 

It will be noted that negroes produced that year only 38 per cent of 
the cotton yield in hales, and only 32 per cent of its value. In other 
words, the white farmer grew 62 per cent of the cotton yield and re- 
' ceived 68 per cent of the cotton value. Cotton is a crop which the white 
man can grow most profitably, and the prospective immigrant need have 
no fear on that score. 

The doctrine of diversified farming, epitomized in the phrase "safe 
farming,'" has been preached and is being practiced in almost every part 
of Dixie. With what result we shall see. Everything produced in the 
temperate zone is being raised by our people in ever-increasing quan- 
tities and with great profit. 

I insert as Appendix C a table showing the total yield of corn, oats, 
wheat, and hay in the 11 cotton States for the years 1909 to 1915, in- 
clusive. I ask Senators in looking over these tables to bear in mind that 
while there are a total of 16 Southern States only the 11 that raise cotton 
are included in these tables. The other five do not raise cotton, or at 
least only in such small quantities as not to be appreciable. 



59 




A CORN FIELD IN EAST LOUISIANA. 

This table evidences in a striking manner the progress of diversified 
farming. The corn crop of these cotton States doubled in seven years, 
increasing from 461,536,000 bushels in 1909 to 812,883,000 bushels in 1915. 
The oat production trebled, climbing from 51,847,000 in 1909 to 157,714,000 
in 1915, while in the same period the wheat crop increased from 28,- 
662,000 bushels to SS, 842, 000, and hay kept pace by advancing from 3,108,- 
000 to 6,269,000 tons. The true significance of these figures is not realized 
until we remember, for instance, that while the corn production of the 
cotton States doubled, that of the rest of the country increased only 5 
per cent; and while the southern oat crop trebled, the oat crop of the 
rest of the Nation increased only 40 per cent. 



CORN OUTSTRIPPING COTTON. 

Corn is a crop which is peculiarly adapted to the South. The 16 
Southern States produced in 1915 1,246,945,000 bushels of corn, which was 
considerably more than one-third of the total crop of the Union. 

The truly enormous increase in its growth shows that its value is 
being appreciated by the southern farmer, and although the average 
yield per acre is less than in some of the Western States, this is because 
it has not been given that intensive cultivation so necessary for the best 
results. 

In the grain States of the Central West corn is the money crop, and 
the most intelligent attention has been given to it, while in the South to 
within the last few years cotton was king of agriculture and corn was 
neglected. This, however, is being rapidly remedied, and the statistics 
of the United States Department of Agriculture show that during the 
past seven years the average production of corn per acre in the South 
has increased from 25 to 90 per cent, ranging from 15 bushels per acre 
in Florida and Georgia to 35 bushels in Maryland. (Appendix D.) 



60 



In the light of these figures and from much study of the subject I am 
convinced that the people of the South are just beginning to raise corn 
and that the great crop of 1,246,945,000 bushels produced in 1915 by the 
sixteen Southern States is only a moderate percentage of what may be 
expected in the future. 

It is interesting to note that the estimated value of this corn crop was 
$786,046,000, or $36,000,000 in excess of the value of the cotton crop of 
the same year, so that cotton must look to its laurels, or corn will soon 
be monarch of southern agriculture, as it is unquestionably of the 
Nation's crops. 

The largest yield of corn ever produced on a single acre by a member 
of a boy's corn club was 232.7 bushels, made by Walker Lee Dunson, of 
Alabama, at a total cost of only 19.6 cents per bushel. 

The work of these boys is so remarkable that I wish to insert the 
following records from the reports of the Department of Agriculture: 



Record of Seven Boys Producing 200 Bushels of Corn per Acre. 



Name of club member. 



State. 



Yield 
per acre 

Bushels. 



Cost of 
produc- 
tion per 
bushel. 

Cents. 



Jerry Moore 

Junius Hill 

Eber Kimbrough. . . . 

Ben Leath 

J. Jones Polk 

Bennie Beeson 

Walker Lee Dunson. 



South Carolina. 

Alabama 

. . .do 

Georgia 

Mississippi .... 

. . .do 

Alabama 



2283 

212* 

2243 

214Vt 

214»/io 

227J 

232 Vio 



42.0 
8.6 
19.8 
14.2 
21.4 
14.0 
19.9 



Number of corn club members in the Southern States who have raised 

100 or more bushels of corn to the acre each year from 1909 to 1914, 
inclusive: 

1909 52 

1910 171 

1911 327 

1912 493 

1913 374 

1914 354 

Total 1,771 

I hope the Senators from the corn States are listening to these figures. 

The greatest yield of corn per acre in the United States was made in 
South 'Carolina by a gentleman who produced 256 bushels on a single 
acre. However, the table I have read refers to the boys' corn club work. 
These wonderful yields were made by the young boys to whom I have 
just alluded. 

Mr. President, in the light of these figures and from much study of 
the subject I am convinced that the people of the South are just begin- 
ning to raise corn and that the great crop of 1,246,945,000 bushels pro- 
duced in 1915 by the sixteen Southern States is only a moderate per- 
centage of what may be expected in the future. 

It is interesting to note that the estimated value of this corn crop 
was $786,646,000, or $36,000,000 in excess of the value of the cotton crop 
of the same year, so that cotton must look to its laurels or corn will 
soon be monarch of southern agriculture, as it is unquestionably of the 
Nation's crops. 



61 




A CORN FIELD NEAR RACELAXD. 



The largest yield of corn ever produced on a single acre by a member 
of a boys' corn club was 232.7 bushels, made by Walker Lee Dunson, of 
Alabama, at a total cost of only 19.6 cents per bushel. 

I have already given the figures in regard to this matter in answer to 
questions, and I shall not now repeat them. 

Careful experiments have demonstrated that the greatest yields of 
corn on small areas have been made in the South, and the best scientists 
are of the opinion that if the methods of cultivation followed in the corn 
States are applied in the South our average production will be fully as 
great, if not greater, than in any part of the Union. 

THE SUPERIORITY OF SOUTHERN CORN. 

Now, as to the quality of this corn — and, Mr. President, I hope Sen- 
ators will pay strict attention to this, because I know most people think 
that, even if we do raise large crops of corn in the South, the corn is not 
half so good as that produced in the corn States. The opinion has long 
and widely prevailed that southern corn is inferior to that of the so- 
called corn States. Not only is this belief erroneous, but I shall show 
that the corn of Dixie is actually superior to that produced in sections 
famed for the quality of their grain. 

The United States Department of Agriculture has made a series of 
scientific tests which place the stamp of superiority upon the southern 
product. I quote from a letter from Dr. William A. Taylor, Chief of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture, under date 
of April 2S, 1916. He says: "The moisture content of corn is one of the 
principal factors determining its commercial grade and value. The fol- 
lowing table gives the average moisture content of corn raised in Louis- 
iana compared to the moisture content of corn raised in Virginia and 
Illinois, in samples submitted by members of the boys' corn clubs, 1915 
crop : 



62 



State. 


Number 

of sam- 
ples. 


Average 
moisture 
content. 






7 
20 
16 


13.4 




17 8 




19.1 







The above table shows that the Louisiana corn was very dry in 
comparison with that grown in the more northern States. 

In the following table is shown a comparison of the moisture content 
and damaged kernels in samples of corn grown in Louisiana compared to 
corn grown in Illinois. Both of these factors are important from a com- 
mercial point of view, and it will be noticed that the Louisiana corn 
shows up the best in both factors: 



Number 

of 
samples. 



Averat 



Moisture 
content. 



Damaged 

kerne's. 



November, 1914. 

Louisiana corn 

Illinois corn 

December, 1914. 

Louisiana corn 

Illinois corn 

January, 1915. 

Louisiana corn 

Illinois corn 

February, 1915. 

Louisiana corn 

Illinois corn 




per ct. per ct. 
14.0 5.1 

16.3 3.6 



14.3 
16.6 



13.8 
17.0 



13.3 
17.1 



2.3 
4.3 



1.0 
4.1 



.4 
4.4 



This is fairly representative of conditions, and indicates that the 
Louisiana corn usually contains considerably less moisture than corn 
from the central part of the corn belt and shows a lower percentage of 
damaged kernels. 

In a letter of May 11, 1916, in response to a further inquiry, speaking 
of the standard Government grades for commercial corn, Dr. Taylor says: 

"In the definition of these grades it will be noticed that there is a 
maximum limit to the amount of both the moisture content and the 
damaged kernels in each of the grades and that the higher grades allow 
less moisture and fewer damaged kernels than the lower grades. Com- 
mercial corn is sold mostly by grade and the higher grades generally 
command the highest prices. 

"Applying the maximum limits of moisture content and damaged 
kernels in the corn grades to the data shown in the table previously 
submitted, it will be seen that so far as the factors of moisture content 
and damaged kernels are concerned the Louisiana corn, with one excep- 
tion, would grade higher on an average than the Illinois corn during the 
period covered in that table. 



63 

"In addition to the high commercial grade which corn testing- low in 
moisture content and damaged kernels is entitled to, corn of this nature 
will stand up better in storage and during- transportation than corn test- 
ing- high in these factors. Enough information is at hand to indicate 
that southern-grown corn generally tests lower moisture and damaged 
kernels at the time of harvest than corn grown in the remainder of the 
country, and as the southern corn matures earlier, it has the additional 
advantage of an early market." 

Mr. President, to resume, these official tests, as given by Dr. Taylor, 
demonstrate that southern corn has many advantage over that grown in 
other sections. Why not? I hope the Senator from Kansas will listen to 
this. In the laboratory of nature more sunshine and rain are available 
for the production of corn in the Southern States than in the so-called 
corn belt. The prospective immigrant, therefore, need have no fear if he 
wishes to settle in a corn country. Dixie is the place for him. His 
honest toil can produce from her fertile lands corn that will grade better, 
ship better, and therefore bring higher prices than that grown in the 
so-called corn belt of the United States. 

SUGAR, RICE, TOBACCO, ETC. 

'Sugar cane also is a very interesting and profitable crop, and, though 
it is now mainly confined to southern Louisiana, there is no reason w r hy 
it should not be grown in all the Gulf States and Georgia, especially 
along the coasts of Texas and Florida. 

Perhaps the southern crop that, next to corn and wheat, would appeal 
most to the northern farmer is rice, which is handled in many respects 
the same as wheat. This most nutritious cereal grows well on any flat 
land in the South that can be irrigated, and it has proved very successful 
in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and South Carolina. It will not be amiss 
to say a word in regard to the great success with which rice is grown in 
Louisiana, which leads all other States in its production. In 1915 Louis- 
iana produced 13,714,000 bushels of rough rice, which was 4 7.4 per cent 
of the total American crop, and practically 6,000,000 bushels more than 
its nearest competitor. This crop was worth $12,343,000 on the farm. The 
yield of 34.2 bushels per acre in Louisiana that year is 1.1 bushels more 
than the average for the entire country during the past ten years. In 
1914 there were forty-one rice mills in Louisiana, which was 55 per cent 
of all in the United States, while in the city of New Orleans is situated 
the largest rice mill in the Union. Rice also affords great opportunities 
to the farmer seeking a change of location. 

. Tobacco is a very extensive industry in Virginia, Kentucky, and 
Vennessee, and does well in several other States. Peanuts thrive mar- 
velously, especially on the sandy lands of Virginia and Tennessee, and 
have proved a big success on the rich bottoms and sandy hills of Louis- 
iana and Mississippi. And wheat can be profitably grown on two-thirds 
of cur southern farms. 

Indeed it would take a long time to enumerate the various crops, 
fruits, and vegetables which can be raised with interest and profit in the 
South. One can literally take his choice and find suitable conditions 
for it. 

OUR UNEQUALED FORAGE CROPS. 

Now, let me say something about our wonderful forage crops, many 
kinds of which do excellently, the famed blue grass and equally nutri- 
tious Bermuda being our best natural grasses. Alfalfa. Lespedeza, the 
clovers and vetches, cowpeas, soy beans, oats, rye, and so forth, do well 
in every State in the South. 



64 




65 

On this subject Dr. Taylor, in a letter to me elated April 29, 1916, says: 

"The culture of forage in Louisiana in common with other Southern 
States has been a relatively unimportant part of the State's agriculture, 
but in the last few years there has been an enormously increased interest 
awakened in animal husbandry. 

"Notwithstanding the relatively small amount of live stock and con- 
sequently of forage production in Louisiana, it is probably true that at 
least as much forage per acre can be grown on the alluvial lands of 
Louisiana as in any other portion of the United States." 

I should like to call this statement of Dr. Taylor to the attention of 
Senators from the cattle States, if there are any within the sound of 
my voice: 

"On these alluvial lands Bermuda grass and Japan clover combined 
form a permanent pasture which will easily carry two head of stock per 
acre for eight months in the year, and in some cases double this amount. 
"When it is borne in mind that the best blue-grass pastures of the North 
will carry only one head of cattle to two acres for about six months of 
the year the extraordinary productiveness of the alluvial land pastures is 
evident." 

Senators, this is not my statement. It was made by Dr. Taylor, chief 
of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture. 

This disinterested testimony is the voice of truth. No section of the 
United States is more favored by nature for the production of forage 
crops, and our possibilities in this direction are so vast that a splendid 
future awaits the South as the principal cattle section of the Union. 
With corn and forage crops naturally goes animal industry, and our 
recent successes in this new field speak with prophetic voice for the 
future. 

HOGS, THE, MORTGAGE LIFTER. 

There are no enemies to hogs, sheep, horses, and mules in the South- 
ern States which do not exist everywhere, and all of these animals suc- 
ceed well. Our winters are so mild that with a proper variety of crops 
grazing can be secured every day in the year, and animals require much 
less dry food and close attention than in the North. Conditions with us 
are especially favorable to hogs, and no State in the Republic has as 
many advantages for the lowly porker, called the "mortgage lifter," in 
the great agricultural States of Iowa and Illinois, as my own Louisiana, 
which is the natural home of the hog. Food crops of every kind grow in 
great profusion throughout the year, no housing is necessary, and the 
health of the pigs is fine whenever properly cared for. 

The mild climatic conditions in the South make it unnecessary to 
invest any large amount of capital in equipment, and it is possible to 
raise two litters per year from mature sows much more successfully than 
in the so-called corn belt. In 1915 there were 20,481,000 hogs in the 
South, representing a total farm value of $161,111,000. The breeding of 
swine is an excellent investment for the farmer with small capital, for 
hogs multiply rapidly and give quick returns upon the money expended. 
No hog diseases exist in the South which are not also prevalent in the 
great hog States, and southern hogs are practically immune to pul- 
monary and bone troubles, such as pneumonia and rheumatism, and so 
forth, which are very common in the colder States. Beyond question, 
southern hogs are more healthy than their northern brethren, and hog 
raising in the South can be made more profitable than in any other part 
of the Union. 



66 



Equally favorable conditions exist as to mules, horses, and sheep. 
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri are justly famous for the best horses 
and mules on the continent, but I have seen as good animals raised in 
Louisiana as ever trod the ground, and Texas has become very noted in 
recent years for its horses and mules. 

RAPIDLY GROWING CATTLE INDUSTRY. 

The South is naturally and otherwise adapted for live stock produc- 
tion, especially cattle for beef and dairying, and her farmers who have 
made the attempt have settled into this -type of farming with an ease 
and grace befitting the best of our corn-belt farmers. Why should not 
they? There is no limit to the diversity or production of their grain 
and forage crops. There may be a few crops that do not thrive as well 
in our Southern States as in colder climates, but their places are more 
than filled by the hundreds of varieties of grain, forage, and pasture 
crops farmed in this section. While the so-called corn-belt and northern 
farms are locked in ice and snow the South is green with winter pas- 
tures. Southern cattle, unhoused and with little attention, make gains 
on pasture during the winter months that are unheard of without heavy 
grain feeding on northern farms. 

To those who have watched southern agricultural development closely 
during the past few years the stride she has taken is phenomenal. This 
is especially true in the case of the development of the cattle industry. 
Pure-bred herds and flocks are springing up everywhere. Almost every 
county has its "better live stock associations." Nearly every State has 
its corps of specialists who are fostering their particular branch of 
agricultural development. The work of these specialists is concerted and 
organized, and branches through the county agents and farmers on one 
side and back through the State colleges and the Department of Agri- 
culture on the other. 

The change from straight cotton to diversified and live stock farming 
has not been exactly "a bed of roses" for the planters of the South. The 
difficulties which they are overcoming, while few in number, are large in 




A COMING BEAUTY. 



size. The greatest drawback in the way of cattle production the South 
has is the Texas fever tick. The Government specialist has landed on 
the work of eradicating this destroyer with a vim. During the few years 
in whioh the work has been in progress about one-.third of the total ticky 
area has been cleaned of this pest. That this work is of great value to 
the southern cattle industry is indicated by the following figures. The 
average weight of cattle in the States of Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, 
Alabama, and Mississippi in 1915 were 340, 419, 471, 500, and 550 pounds 
per head, respectively. 

The cattle of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, which are tick-free 
States, averaged 985, 966, and 938 pounds, respectively, in weigiht. The 
average values of cattle in these ticky States are: Georgia, $18; Florida, 
$18; Alabama, $20; Mississippi, $22. In a few of the tick-free States the 
average values of all cattle are as follows: Wyoming, $64; Montana, 
$60; Ohio, $56; Illinois, $56; Indiana, $54. Xot only are the prices and 
values of beef cattle in ticky areas reduced, but it is estimated that milk 
production in such areas is reduced about 40 per cent because of the 
blood-sucking tick. When the work of tick eradication was first taken 
up it moved slowly, but at the present time southern farmers are making 
heroic efforts toward cleaning up their respective States. It is estimated 
that in from five to seven years the work will be completed. 

It gives me much pleasure to state that the Legislature of Louisiana 
passed a law last week requiring all its citizens, under heavy penalties, 
to eradicate the cattle tick, and I have no doubt that my State will soon 
be free from the pest. 

Following rapidly in the wake of tick eradication is the introduction of 
pure-bred beef animals. The beef cattle sales which have been held in 
the South during the past two years are numbered among the hundreds. 
Southern farmers appreciate good cattle and are paying good prices for 
them. At the Hereford sale held in Atlanta last November 46 head of 
pure-bred cattle were sold at an average price of $371 per head. One bull 
in this sale sold for $S00; several went at $600. The best feature of this 
sale was the fact that most of these cattle went to southern breeders. 

Another sale is that of the Lespedeza farm at Hickory Valley, Tenn. 
In this sale 60 head of pure-bred Shorthorn cattle sold at an average of 
$22S. The bulls in this sale averaged $318, and one bull sold for $1,600. 
These were southern cattle and sold largely to southern breeders. 

At the Davis Hereford sale at Jackson, Miss., in March of this year, 
some forty-odd cattle sold for an average price of $511. More than one- 
half of these cattle were sold to southern breeders, which in itself shows 
how rapidly the southern farmers are becoming accustomed to diversified 
and live stock farming. In recent sales in North Carolina, South Caro- 
lina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana 
cattle have sold at excellent prices. 

More cattle have been taken into Southern States during the months 
since January 1 of this year than during any months previous. If this 
record keeps up the year 1916 will mean a great deal to southern live 
stock improvement. Already cattle coming from these States are begin- 
ning to show the results of breeding, and a few good bulls scattered here 
and there in counties of the South will go a long way toward the estab- 
lishment of a better type of cattle. 

The boys' pig and baby beef clubs should also be given due credit for 
the part they have played in the development of southern live stock con- 
ditions. The pig club idea originated a few years ago in Louisiana. 
Since that time it has grown to such an extent that the mere supervision 
of the work necessitates the employment of several hundred specialists. 
Some of the specialists devote all their time to the work, while others 
only give part of their time. The baby beef club work, also a southern 



68 

idea, has not existed as long as the pig club work, but boys everywhere 
are glad of the opportunity to take up this interesting work. The work 
at present is going on in Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia, with promise 
that it will spread over all the South in a few years. 

One might ask what has the South to show for all the work which has 
been done there in the interest of beef cattle during the last five years. 
It is difficult to answer the question with justice to the work, because the 
data and information which we have at hand are so small and so poorly 
representative of the real good that has been done. 

That new institution, the Atlanta Live Stock Show, is a good example 
of what the South has produced and can do when called upon. This 
Atlanta show, because of certain factors, was devoted entirely to Here- 
ford cattle last year. Hereford breeders are responsible for the state- 
ment that this was the biggest show of their breed ever held. Over $5000 
was offered in prize money, and the best of Hereford cattle from all over 
the United States were in the competition. One cow imported from 
England, the place where Herefords are supposed to be really good, was 
not good enough at Atlanta to win over some of her competitors. This 
show was reputed to have been better than the Hereford show at the 
Panama-Pacific Exposition, and several breeders brought their show 
herds across the continent to get an opportunity at the prize money 
offered. Every first prize offered by the fair association at Atlanta, as 
well as the four chamipionships, and last but best of all, the two grand 
champion animals, w-ere all owned by breeders living below Mason and 
Dixon line. These southern breeders did not win because of lack of 
competition, for the strength of this show was without precedent. 

Further, southern -bred cattle have won time and again at that great 
Mecca of all cattlemen, the International at Chicago. It remained for a 
Mississippi breeder to capture the premier recognition at this show in 
1913 on that greatest of all present-day Hereford bulls, Point Comfort 
XIV. In making this wonderful product of the South a grand champion, 
the greatest possible honor was bestowed on southern farmers. 

The offspring of this great bull, as well as those of many others, are 
being scattered over all the Southern States. Already their influence is 
being felt in the improvement of and the better prices received for the 
steers that are being marketed. 

The South, with her cheap feeds and her wonderful variety of winter 
and summer pastures, can not be equaled for cheapness of the gains 
made by cattle fattened there. Bermuda grass, lespedeza, bur and other 
clovers, paspalum, and alfalfa are a few of the many grasses which are 
furnishing the basis of very economic beef production. Any one given 
section in our Northern States may boast of one or two standard pasture 
crops. In some sections of the South as many as 20 pasture grasses have 
been found growing in one pasture. Any one of these grasses alone 
would have been successful as a grazing proposition. With such a va- 
riety of resources at her command, one can appreciate how 'easily the 
South meets any and all conditions. 

All that I have said in regard to beef cattle applies with equal force 
to dairy cattle. Although as yet there are but few creameries in the 
South, every branch of the dairying industry has been making rapid 
strides. Probably no one feature represents this development more defi- 
nitely than the number of silos that have been built in the South recent- 
ly. A report from the United States Department of Agriculture shows 
that during the past nine years the department has given advice, and so 
forth, in the building of 1,200 silos, which represent only a very small 
fraction, probably about one-sixth, of those actually built. Ten years 
ago a silo in the Southern States was almost unknown, but today there 
is hardly a county in the whole South in which silos are not in use. 



69 




HOLSTEIX CATTLE. 



THE SOUTH A MINERAL EMPIRE. 

Rapid, however, as has been the South's agricultural progress, it has 
been fully equaled and even surpassed by her strides in the mineral 
world. In 1SS2 the total southern mineral production was valued at only 
$38,000,000, and amounted to S* per cent of the mineral output of the 
country; in 1S90 it was 14 per cent of the Nation's production, and its 
value was $S7,000,000; in 1900 it was 16 per cent and brought $177,000,000; 
in 1910 it rose to 19 per cent and was valued at $370,000,000, while in 1914 
the South's output brought $467,000,000 and constituted 22 per cent of the 
total production of the United States. 

The increase in value of mineral production for the whole country 
from 1882 to 1914 was from $452,000,000 to $2,115,000,000, or about 370 per 
cent; for the South the increase was from $38,000,000 to $465,000.00 i, 
1,100 per cent. In other words, while during the generation from 1882 to 
1914 the country, as a whole, was increasing the value of its mineral 
output not quite five-fold, the South increased the value of its mineral 
production about twelve-fold. And what minerals made up this grand 
total of nearly half a billion dollars — more than one-half as much in 
value as the great cotton crop of which the South is so justly proud? Of 
the 57 useful minerals mined in the United States every one is produced 
in the South except borax and platinum, and to make up for these two 
not produced, nine, namely, phosphate, bauxite, manganese, sulphur, 
monzonite, zircon, barite, fuller's earth, and nearly all the mica and 
pyrite are produced nowhere outside the South. The South is indeed a 
mineral empire. I insert as Appendix E some statistics as to the South's 
mineral wealth. 



70 



SULPHUR LOUISIANA'S MONOPOLY. 

Louisiana produces practically all the sulphur in the United States. 
Fifteen years ago the United States produced only 3,000 tons of sulphur 
and imported 167,000 tons. Then what are probably the largest sulphur 
deposits in the world were made available in Calcasieu Parish, La., and 
the deficit was turned into a surplus — the import into an export. In 1914 
our Nation mined 327,000 tons of sulphur, of which 98,000 tons were 
exported. Of this, more than 300,000 tons, valued at over $5,000,000, came 
from the South. Louisiana had put the United States on the sulphur 
map of the world. 

In the production of petroleum, now so important in our marvelous 
industrial development, the South stands to the front. Her output was 
52 per cent of our national production and amounted to 118,000,000 bar- 
rels in 1915. This was nearly twice as much as the total produced by any 
other country in the world. Oklahoma is second in the United States in 
the production of petroleum, and I have but to mention the Gushing field 
to recall to your minds its phenomenal output. Louisiana has the great 
Jennings and Caddo oil fields and ranks fifth in the production of oil. 
Geologists tell us that the central South from Oklahoma to Louisiana is 
underlain with what are probably the greatest oil deposits in the world. 




SULPHUR MINES OP CALCASIEU. 



PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS. 

Oil and gas go hand in hand. The South leads the Nation in the 
production and value of its natural gas. The southern output in 1915 
brought the colossal sum of $49,000,000, which was 52 per cent of the 
total amount realized for natural gas throughout the United States. 



71 

Oklahoma produces more than any" other State, and next to her is 
Louisiana. Three hundred and thirty-four thousand domestic consumers 
and more than 5,000 industrial consumers are supplied with natural gas 
from southern fields. Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and West 
Virginia have large deposits of salt, the annual production of which 
runs into the millions. The Louisiana output is only limited by the 
demand, for mother nature has given her salt enough to supply the world 
for centuries. 

The South mines nearly half of all the lead and zinc produced in the 
United States, and these deposits bid fair to do even better in the future. 
The southern output of these metals was valued in 1915 at $63,000,000. 

The limits of this address do not permit more than a mere naming of 
our other minerals. Fuller's earth, bauxite, phosphates, cement, marble, 
clays, building stones, and health-giving mineral waters abound in many 
parts of Dixie. The Newcomb pottery made at New Orleans is justly 
famed and has taken prizes in many exhibits. 

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES. 

My discussion of this portion of my subject would be very incomplete 
if I did not call attention to the magnificent opportunities to which the 
marvelous advantages of the South give birth. The proximity of almost 
every known mineral makes no prophecy as to future manufacturing in- 
dustries of the South improbable. 

Dr. David T. Day, formerly of the United States Geological Survey, 
speaks of a conspicuous instance of this in the Manufacturers' Record 
of February 22, 1912: 

"Certain classes of chemicals should be produced in the South at least 
to the full limit of the southern demand. 

These include products coming from southern minerals shipped fre- 
quently long distances away from home to be manufactured and trans- 
ported back to the South for consumption. Equally obvious are the cases 
where the proximity of various raw materials admit of a product cheaper 
than anywhere else. Attention can not too often be called to the most 
prominent case of the latter kind, the production of soda salts. Everyone 
is familiar with the vast beds of pure rock salt in southern Louisiana, as 
well as the brines accompanying oil and gas to the north. In close prox- 
imity to this is found the cheapest sulphur production in the world — at 
the sulphur mines of Calcasieu Parish, in Louisiana. With abundant 
cheap fuel, oil, gas, and wood, with transportation in all directions by 
rail and water, no one can dispute the South's claim to supremacy as to 
location." 

Dr. Day told me several years ago that the gas fields near Shreveport, 
La., were the largest known to science, and would generate more elec- 
trical power than all the waters of Niagara Falls, and a great deal 
cheaper, although subsequently he said that, owing to later discoveries, 
he thought there were greater supplies of gas in Oklahoma than in 
Louisiana. He said that Shreveport and other localities in my State 
were ideal for many enterprises requiring cheap fuel, especially in view 
of the proximity of sulphur, salt, gypsum, and sand. He also mentioned 
that bauxite, the mineral base of aluminum, is found in great quantity 
in America only in Arkansas, near Shreveport,' whence it is carried thou- 
sands of miles to the cheap electricity of Niagara, whereas an enormous 
saving might be effected if the Arkansas and Louisiana products, baux- 
ite and gas, lying side by side could be worked in cooperative unison. 
This is a great opportunity for men of brains and capital, and many 
others are offered by this wonderful gas field. 



72 

Our whole nation has aroused on the subject of conserving- our nat- 
ural resources. Location and ownership of water-power sites out West 
cause the fiercest controversy. Cabinets tremble at the mere mention of 
"conservation." Captains of finance and industry are searching the 
world for profitable investment, and yet this marvelous wealth of gas in 
Louisiana and Oklahoma, better than a dozen power sites in the West 
for superior electrical productivity to the mighty flow of Niagara's cata- 
ract, is actually going begging for some one to conserve and use it. 

The West, however, is not alone in the possession of streams with 
water-power potentialities. It has been estimated that there is a mini- 
mum of over 5,000,000 primary horsepower in southern streams. . This 
potential energy is sufficient for the creation of an industrial empire. 
Already these giant forces of nature have been partially harnessed, and 
over 1,000,000 horsepower are annually developed from southern streams; 
and I need but mention Mussel Shoals to call to your mind 600,000 horse- 
power in the Tennessee River at one place, which the National Govern- 
ment may utilize in the production of nitrates from the air. 

SOUTH'S REMARKABLE MANUFACTURING GROWTH. 

The South is not generally known as a manufacturing section, but her 
growth in this sphere is fully keeping pace with her advancement along 
other lines. In 1900 the value of all manufactured products in the South 
was $1,289,000,000, about 11 per cent of that estimated for the entire 
country, while the value of her farm products was $1,354,000,000. In other 
words, in 1900 the farm products of the South brought about $70,000,000 
more than her manufactured products. 

In 1910 a marvelous change had taken place. The South's manufac- 
tured output had more than doubled in value, amounting to $2,637,000,000, 
or 13 per cent of the total for the United States, while her farm products 
were valued at $1,927,000,000. In 1910 the manufactured products of the 
South brought $700,000,000 more than all her agricultural products. 

The Department of Commerce estimates that last year Dixie manu- 
factures aggregated over $4,000,000,000, which was 18 per cent of that 
produced by the entire country, while our farm products were valued at 
$3,600,000,000. The South now manufactures more than half of all the 
cotton it grows, and there is hardly a line of industrial activity that can 
be mentioned in which the South is not advancing faster than the rest 
of the Nation. Of 262 different lines of manufacture in the entire Union, 
236 are already being carried on in the South. For a long time the South 
was considered purely an agricultural section, but that is true no longer. 
Agriculture is still of the greatest importance, reaching in value every 
year considerably more than one-third of the total agricultural wealth of 
the Nation, and being over $3,600,000,000 last year; but manufactures 
have grown far more rapidly than agriculture, and last year reached the 
colossal total of $4,000,000,000, which clearly gives the palm to manufac- 
turing rather than agriculture. 

SOUTHERN BANKS. 

In natural cooperation with the South's marvelous growth in agricul- 
ture, mining, and manufacturing, her banking facilities have expanded 
enormously. In 1900 there were only 713 national banks in the South 
with total "deposits of $436,000,000, while on March 7, 1916, 2,147 national 
banks, with total deposits amounting to $1,636,000,000, were doing busi- 
ness. In 1900 the South had 1.5S9 State banks with deposits of $333,- 
000,000, while in 1915 she boasted of 6.865, whose deposits totaled the 
colossal sum of $1,355,000,000. To put it in another way, in fifteen years 



73 



the number of southern banks qudrapuled, while their deposits increased 
from about three-quarters of a billion to nearly three billions. These 
figures show that the South now has banking- resources as great as the 
entire country had as late as 1884. Truly, Dixie is the land of opportuni- 
ties, for, although her growth was retarded for a while by various cir- 
cumstances, she is now going forward with startling rapidity. 

OUR SPLENDID TIMBER WEALTH. 

Of vast importance to the South as well as to the entire United States 
are the timber resources, which have contributed much to the prosperity 
of the region and which will continue to add to its wealth for several 
generations. Numbering — a term broad enough to embrace the cutting 
of the timber in the woods until it has gone through a refining process 
and is ready for consumption as boards, planks, or timber — has always 
been a part of the activities of the South; it was not, however, until the 
90's that it began to grow with strides that quickly outdistanced the 
older producing regions. The exploitation has increased year after year 
and the end is not yet in sight. 

As indicative of the economic importance of the forests to the States 
of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis- 
sissippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas, the following estimate of 
timber remaining after several decades of heavy cutting is made, the 
figures being those of the Forest Service: 




A HARDWOOD FOREST. 



74 



Billions of 
feet b. m. 

Virginia 14.5 

North Carolina 4^.9 

South Carolina 30.7 

Georgia 46.0 

Florida 74.1 

Alabama 56.3 

Mississippi 92.7 

Louisiana 119. S 

Arkansas SI. 5 

Texas 66.0 

624.5 

The South, as shown in the .preceding tabulation, has a total estimated 
remaining stand of 624,500,000,000 feet of timber — Louisiana's 119,800,- 
000,000 feet alone representing nearly one-fifth of the aggregate timber 
remaining uncut. The value of this timber it is difficult to even fairly 
approximate, much less to make a close estimate of its real worth. If its 
value is placed at the very low price of $2 per thousand feet, the poten- 
tial value of the forests is a billion and a half dollars. This represents 
but about one-sixth of the aggregate value of the resource by the time 
the timber is manufactured into lumber and ready for distribution. All 
of this money goes to the South — to labor and to the producers of other 
products of the region. 

The South has produced in the way of lumber in the last ten years — ■ 
\905 to 1914, inclusive— more than 160,000,000,000 feet of lumber. Its yel- 
low pine is known almost everywhere that lumber is used; it dominates 
the markets of the great Central West and the Eastern States; from the 
Gulf and South Atlantic ports it is shipped in cargo lots in normal times 
to practically all of the countries of Europe, in addition to the Republics 
of South America. In 1914 an aggregate cut of 17,500,000,000 feet was re- 
ported by nearly 12,000 mills. It is not difficult for the mind to picture 
what the operation of these 12,000 mills means in the way of prosperity. 

Louisiana in 1904 ranked fourth in the list of lumber-producing States 
in the Union in the volume of lumber cut. OBy 1907 this Commonwealth 
had advanced to second place and maintained t^.at position until 1914, 
when the production reported exceeded that of any other individual State. 
Participating in that cut were 428 sawmills, which reported the quantity 
of lumber manufactured. Louisiana can boast of not only some of the 
most modern equipped sawmill operations, but can with pride point to 
the single largest mill in the United States, a mill at Bogalusa, La., with 
a capacity of 1,000,000 feet of lumber a day. 

Some idea of the. extent of the lumber industry in the South may be 
gained from the fact that this industry employs 281,704 wage earners and 
that the capital invested amounts to the colossal sum of $364,S52,000. In 
this again Louisiana leads, with 46,072 wage earners and $88,973,000 of 
capital invested. 

Not only have the forests of the South given much to the upbuilding 
of the country as a whole through the volume of lumber cut each year, 
but the returns from the naval stores industry are enormous. The value 
of these products — 28,988,000 gallons of turpentine and 3,263,000 barrels 
of rosin— was $25,295,000. 

The South's economic condition has been doubly benefited through ex- 
ploitation of the forests. Not only has the timber cut brought many mil- 
lions of dollars into the several States, given employment to hundreds 
of thousands, resulted in the construction of tens of thousands of miles 
of railroads, and afforded to the existing railroads millions of dollars' 
worth of freight traffic, but it has necessitated the building of many 
communities, now grown into thriving towns, and at the same time 
afforded a market for the products of the field and factory. 



75 

EXCELLENT TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES. 

Mr. President, we have noted in a hasty and inadequate manner the 
varied and valuable products of southern forests, mines, and farms. A 
study of our production, however, necessitates brief mention of the great 
transportation problem, and of its three agencies — road, rail, and river. 

There seems to be quite widespread belief that the South is woefully 
lacking in improved roads. This is entirely erroneous, for, while it is 
true that the South did not take up State-aid highway improvement as 
early as New Jersey or Massachusetts, it may be pointed out that 
Maryland was the first to practically complete a comprehensive system 
of State roads built entirely at State expense and reaching every county 
and important city in the State. 

While the good roads movement was a few years late in getting under 
way in the South, as compared with some other sections, the movement 
since that time has been, if anything, more rapid there than in any other 
section of equal extent. Furthermore, it may be well to note that, with 
the exception of the period of great railroad expansion, when every sec- 
tion of the country came to regard the public road as merely a local 
utility, the South has always been at the very front in the movement for 
better roads. 

It was during the last ten or twelve years, however, that the South 
made special progress in the improvement of its highways. This was 
accomplished through State aid, the utilization of convict labor, and the 
skillful adaptation, of local materials to road improvement in a way 
equaled by no other section of the Union. In 1904 the sixteen Southern 
States had a total road mileage of 790,274 miles, of which only 29,853 
miles, or 3.8 per cent, were improved, as compared with 7.1 per cent of 
improved roads for the entire United States. The total cash road and 
bridge expenditures for these States amounted to only $12,636,959, or an 
average of only $16 per mile of road, as compared with $28 of average 
cash road expenditure per mile of road for the Nation. (Appendix G.) 
The ten years following 1904, however, worked a wonderful transforma- 
tion. At the close of 1914 the Southern States had a total road mileage 
of 951,671 miles, of which S4,155 miles, or 8.9 per cent, were improved. 
This is practically three times the mileage which was improved in 1904, 
while the cash road and bridge expenditures in 1914 amounted to $61,- 
6S0.956, or about five times the total road and bridge expenditures in 1904. 
In comparison with the entire United States we note that the improved 
roads of the South amounted to 8.9 per cent of the total in those States, 
with a cash road and bridge expenditure of $64 per mile, while for the 
Onion as a whole the improved road mileage was 10.9 per cent of the 
total, with a cash expenditure of about $100 per mile. Thus, wmile in' 
1904 the percentage of the improved mileage in the South was only one- 
half of the average for the country at large, in 1914 it was almost equal 
to the average for the entire United States. (See Appendix G.) 

The above will serve to show how erroneous is the idea that the South 
is far behind in the improvement of its public roads. The work is by no 
. means as yet complete, but when we stop to consider that at the present 
time about 8.9 per cent of its public roads have been improved, and most 
of this in the short period of ten years, and when we recall that 15 or 20 
per cent of the roads of any section carry at least SO per cent of the traf- 
fic, we see that the South is well on its way toward completion of a 
system of improved roads which will answer all its needs. In the wisdom 
shown in financing its road improvements, in utilizing convict labor, and 
adapting local materials so as to answer the needs of the particular 
traffic requirements, no section of the United States has made as great 
progress as have the sixteen Southern States. The people know- what 



76 




T 



mm, 



uStll' 



fc#f 



3H 






A SAMPLE OF LOUISIANA GOOD ROADS. 



good roads mean and have set about to secure them. While the work has 
in no instance been as spectacular as that of some other States, it has 
been no less effective in securing- actual results; that is, roads adapted 
to the needs and traffic requirements of each of the several States. 

In the South, however, as throughout the United States, the principal 
means of transportation is by rail, and we are very well supplied in this 
respect. The United States has a total of 252,000 miles of railroads, of 
which the South, constituting less than one-third of the country in area, 
has 92,000 miles, or more than one-third of the railroad mileage. The 
average southern mileage is more than three times that of many of the 
Western States, and the enormous growth of the southern region is 
forcing a rapid increase in these great arteries of commerce. Our rail- 
road officials are as enterprising and energetic as those in any section of 
the country, and their persevering and untiring labor is bringing our 
railways to a very high degree of efficiency. 

In regard to waterways, the South has been unusually blessed. Taken 
as a whole, the Southern States have a greater per cent of navigable 
rivers than any other part of the Union. The mighty Father of Waters 
sweeps through the heart of the Southland, and the Ohio, the Missouri, 
the Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Arkansas, the White, the St. Francis, 
the Red, and the Yazoo are worthy tributaries to this great parent. Pour- 
ing into the Atlantic and the Gulf are many fine streams, and my own 
Louisiana has nearly 5,000 miles of navigable waters. The South can 
boast of the second largest shipping port in the United States — -New Or- 
leans, the Queen City of the Gulf — whose commerce last year was second 
only to New York, while Galveston ranks third among the ports of the 
Union. The opening of the Panama Canal has brought to our very doors 
the great markets on the west coast of South and Central America, where 
the products of the South are in active demand. 

In transportation, then, as in production, the iSouth stands in the front 
rank. 



77 



I fear, however, that the facts recited above, showing the limitless 
resources of the South, are not as widely known as they should be and I 
trust that the press of the United States will call to the attention of our 
people the opportunities offered by this section. In no portion of the 
United States is the public better served by its press than in the South. 
This refers to the rural as well as. metropolitan newspapers. The large 
number of wide-awake periodicals is an indication of the progressive 
spirit that is sweeping Dixie from the Ohio to the Gulf, and I know that 
the press, not only of the South but of the entire country, will assist in 
giving these facts the publicity that their importance merits. 

COME TO THE SOUTHLAND. 

Mr. President, in a hasty and imperfect manner I have pointed out a 
few of the myriad advantages that should lure men and money to the 
Southland, and hope my feeble w y ords will meet with some response. I 
trust that many of our fine people now pouring into Canada, and the 
boys and girls who are leaving northern and eastern farms and villages 
for the exciting but dangerous life of great cities, will make their homes 
in the South. I cordially invite capital and labor in every branch of 
human endeavor to invest in Dixie and become citizens of that favored 
country. We will gladly welcome all who wish to come — millions of 
them — for the South needs 50,000,000 additional people and fifty billions 
of wealth to assist in developing her marvelous resources. The lure of 
the Southland is calling and the response will be all she desires. 




A LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOME OF TODAY. 



APPENDIX A. 

MEAN' TEMPERATURE. 



Stations. 



3 
p 


February 


- 
Ed 






e 

1-5 


>> 

a 

i-s 


t/3 


<B 

.a 

s 

ft 
<u 

02 


,Q 

O 

o 
O 


Z 

a 

> 

o 


3 
— 
g 
n 
o 

A 



Edmonton, British 
Northwest 

Prince Albert, Sas- 
katchewan 

Swift Current, Sas- 
katchewan . . 

Winnipeg, Manito- 
bia 

White River, Onta- 
rio 

Ottawa, Ontario. . . 

Bismarck, N. Dak. 

St. Paul, Minn .... 

Des Moines, Iowa. 

Boston, Mass 

Albany, N. Y 

Buffalo, N. Y 

Chicago, 111 

Little Rock, Ark. . 

Atlanta, Ga 

Shreveport, La. . . . 

Charleston, S. C. . . 

Jacksonville, Fla. . 

Mobile, Ala 

New Orleans, La. . 

Galveston, Tex. . . . 

San Antonio, Tex. . 



1.8 
-8.4 

3.1 

—6.8 

—0.4 
9.6 
6.7 
11.6 
20.4 
27.0 
22.5 
24.7 
23.7 
40.6 
42.2 
46.2 
49.3 
53.9 
49.8 
53.0 
52.7 
51.1 



8. 3124. 2 1 39. 9 50.8 1 56.9 1 60.6 5 S .8 

I I I I I 

— 3.0|12. 0|36.1| 47.6(57. 7 61.9 58.9 



8.0 22.0 41.3|50. 

I I 
-1.6 12. 



0.2|12 
11.7121 

8.3|22 
15.0|28 
24.1|35 
28.0135 
23.6132 
24.0|31 
25.4|34 
44.1|52 
45.2|52 
50.0|58 
51.7|57 
56.9161 
53.2159 
56.3162 
55.6|62 
54.4|62 
I 



3|35.9'51 

I I 

2!33.0|45 
,5|40.0|54 
1)42. 6|55 
2145.7158 
7150.6161 
0|45.3I56 
1 C.n 58 
2|42.3!54. 
4 15.9 56. 
7|62.7|70 
4|61.1|69 
2I65.SI73 
2|63.8|72, 
9|67.6|74. 
H66.0I73. 
0167.9174, 
3J6S.7I75. 
1169.0174. 



7|60.0 
6 62.2 



7|58. 
9|65. 
2 64. 
2167. 
6!70. 
6 6 5. 
9 6,7. 
5|65. 
5!66. 
4177. 
5175. 
2179. 
4J7S. 
2179. 
6 7 9. 
5179. 
4180. 
8 80. 



49.3 
48.4 



41.1122.9 
37.1 15.4 



13.1135.6 
2.SI30.5 



66.5^64.0 53.1142.1 23.2 10.0 37.5 
66.0 63.4 52.5 39.1 18.0 4.1 33.1 



7 59 
3 69 

2170, 
4|72. 
4|75. 
8|71. 
9172. 
1|70. 
3172. 
2|80. 
6177. 
6 X2. 
5,81. 

II Ml. 
1 Ml. 
6181. 
9|83. 
4|82. 



5|56.4|50. 
5.64.'8 57. 

2[6S.1|57. 
1!69.5|60. 
5 J 7 3 . j 6 5 . 
3I68.9|62. 
0|69.5|62. 
2)68. S|62. 
4|71.2|64. 
6|79. 2|73. 
6|76.1 72. 
H81. 4l75. 
3|80.3|76. 
9180.1177. 
5179. 7J76. 
3[S1.0|7S. 
0I82.6|79. 
4182.0177. 



37.1 

43.8 

44.1 

48.1 

52.5 

52.3|41 

50.4 3S 



51.5 
53.2 
62.9 
62.4 
65.6 
67.1158 
69.6161 
67.1157 
69.5160 
4|72.4|62 
1 69.2 59 



9.7 32.1 

17.0 4o.6 



15.0 
19.3 
25.7 
31.6 
27.5 



40.0 
43.9 
49.3 
48.8 
47.6 



30.1147.0 



39 

39.2 29.3|48.5 

51 

51 

55 



5 43.5 

9144.6 

3|4S.9 

1151.3 

3|55.2 

5 51.5 

6|54.4 

9156.3169.4 

2!53.l|67.9 



61.5 
60.9 
65.2 
65.6 
6S.2 
66.1 
68.2 



DAILY MEAN MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE. 



Stations. 



>-. 






s- 






d 
s- 


.c 







E3 


.Q 


ri 


P. 


fe 


S 


<\ 



Edmonton | 

Prince Albert | 

Swift Current | 

Winnipeg j 

Montreal, Provincel 

of Quebec ] 

Toronto, Ontario..! 

Bismarck j 

St. Paul I 

Des Moines j 

Boston I 

Albany | 

Buffalo j 

Chicago I 

Little Rock 

Atlanta 

Shreveport 

Charleston | 

Jacksonville [ 

Mobile I 

New Orleans | 

Galveston | 

San Antonio 



23| 


22| 


12| 


121 


23) 


191 


13| 


121 


21| 


23 


29| 


30| 


18| 


20| 


211 


24] 


29| 


32] 


36| 


36| 


31| 


32| 


31| 


311 


:; 1 


33| 


50] 


53| 


50| 


53[ 


56| 


59 


58| 


59| 


64| 


66| 


59| 


62| 


62| 


64| 


59| 


611 


63| 


66! 

1 



34| 56] 65 69 

27 51| 641 69 

33| 56| 65 71 

28| 54| 68 73 



311 
36| 

34| 
37| 
45] 
43| 
411 
38| 
421 
63| 
621 
69| 
66! 
72| 
68| 
711 
68| 
74 



49| 64! 74 
49| 61| 72 

66 

68 

71 

66 

69 

62 

6,1 



74 


71 


73 


71 


78 


77 


78 


76 


77 


75 


77 


76 


82 


80 


N2 


80 


85 


83 



72 79 

70| 79 

76| 83| 

72! 801 

78| 84| 

75 82 j 

76| 

74! 

80| 85| 92| 94 



S3] 8S| 
S01 86| 



78 
80 

7 6, 
78 
89 
S5 
92 
87! 
901 
891 
891 
88 
94 



49 

44 
50 
48 

50 
52 
51 
53 

59 
57 
57 
54 
56 
71 
70 
75 
73 
78 
75 
76 
75 
79 



79 



APPENDIX A — Continued. 

DAILY MEAN MINIMUM TEMPERATURE. 



Stations. 























'~ 






>. 


















<D 




>> 




















- 




ci 

3 


3 


o 

S 


c 
< 


> 
d 


o 


1-5 


EC 

3 
b£ 
3 


p, 

1 

W 


0) 

o 
o 
O 


= 

> 

O 


5 
o 

CD 

Q 



Edmonton | 

Prince Albert [ 

Swift Current | 

Winnipeg | 

Montreal, Province| 

of Quebec I 

Toronto, Ontario . . I 

Bismarck | 

St. Paul | 

Des Moines. | 

Boston | 

Albany I 

Buffalo | 

Chicago 

Little Rock | 

Atlanta 

Shreveport 

Charleston 

Jacksonville .... 

Mobile 

New Orleans. . . . 

Galveston 

San Antonio. . . . 



4 

-in 

- 9| 

I 

41 

15| 

- 3| 
3| 

HI 
20| 
15| 
19| 
17! 
34| 
35| 
39| 
43| 
46| 
43| 
47| 
48| 
421 



II 
—HI 
— H 

—11| 

I 

71 

14| 

- 11 
71 
141 
201 
161 
171 
18| 
35| 
37| 
411 
44| 
49| 

»46| 
49| 
50| 
441 



101 

41 

14 



I I 

31 1 39 

26| 35 



::.» 



7| 29| 
I 



33| 
:::: 
31 



201 36| 

27| 40| 

28| 381 

25| 38| 

24| 35| 



531 



41 
40 

46 
43 
42 
481 
51| 
48 
501 
46| 
49] 
61| 



45 


50 


46| 50 


59| 52 


49 


54 


56 


61 


53 


5S 


52 1 57 


58 


62 



60| 65| 

581 641 



28 

45 

44| 51| 60| 

49| 56| 64] 

50| 57' 66 

54| 59| 66| 

52| 59| 66| 

56| 61 1 68| 

58| 65| 711 

521 591 66| 



63| 

63| 

65| 
72| 
701 



70| 731 



721 
721 
72| 
74 
77| 
711 



17 9 
12 —3 
19 L0 
161—2 



27 
22 
29 



3 4 
36 
29 
35 
40 
41 
40 
40 
42 
53 
52 
56 
59 
61 
59 
62 
65 



44| 59 



HIGHEST TEMPERATURE OF RECORD. 



Stations. 



















u 




'~ 






>> 


















d> 




>> 


i- 


















^ 


& 


cd 

a 

a 


CO 


o 

- 


p. 


>> 

- 


i-a 


1-3 


W 

isi 

< 


C 

CO 

a 

02 


o 
o 

o 


> 
O 


E 

c 
o 

0) 

p 



Edmonton 

Prince Albert 

Swift Current 

Winnipeg 

Montreal, Province 

of Quebec 

Toronto, Ontario. . 

Bismarck 

St. Paul 

Des Moines 

Boston 

Albany 

Buffalo 

Chicago 

Little Rock 

Atlanta 

Shreveport 

Charleston 

Jacksonville 

Mobile 

New Orleans 

Galveston 

San Antonio 



.48| 
53| 
59| 



52| 
58| 
60| 
511 
641 
70| 
64 
70| 
65| 
78| 
75| 
83| 
80| 
811 
78| 
82| 
75| 
871 



561 

52| 
58| 
44| 



I 

61| 84| 

62| 79 

70| 86| 

581 81| 



50| 57| 

54| 701 

64| 81| 

61| 83| 

70| 881 

641 781 

631 79| 

67| 79| 

63| 81| 

80! 89| 

78| 87| 

82! 901 

80| 94| 

86| 91| 

80| 91| 

82! 86| 

76| S5| 

901 97| 



77 
90 
90 
87 

92| 96 

87| 97 

91| 97 

84| 94 

88| 94 

941 94 

89! 97 

96! 101 

90| 98 

92| 98 

901 9S 



85 



991 104 



861 94| 92 

93| 87| 8S 

104 102 101 

100 94 93 



9S 94 
93 103 



103 

98 

101 

98 

99 

93 

99 

102 

100 

104 

101 

101 

101 

102 

97 

105 



107 
104 
109 
104 
104 

95| 
1031 
106| 
100| 
107| 
104| 
104| 
102 
102| 

99( 
106! 



90 

99 

105 

ioo( 

103| 99 
97' ln2 
98! 97 



84 
90 
99 

91 

94 

102 

96 



95| 

'.IN 



105 101 



98 
110 
LOO 
101 
L01 
100 

98 



97 

101 

100 

99 

97 

98 

94 

103 



94 
91! 

:v.» 



95| 86 
95 83 



94 

93 

104 

100 

98 
103 
107 
104 
109 
104 
104 

95 
103 
106 
100 
110 



781104 

82] 104 



102 

102 

99 

108 



80 



APPENDIX A — Continued. 

LOWEST TEMPERATURE OF RECORD. 



Stations. 





>> 


>> 






d 


d 




2 




a 


,Q 


d 


O 


>~i 


fa 



Edmonton 

Prince Albert. . . . 
Swift Current. . . . 

Winnipeg 

Montreal, Quebec 
Toronto, Ontario. 

Bismarck 

St. Paul 

Des Moines 

Boston 

Albany 

Buffalo 

Chicago 

Little Rock 

Atlanta 

Shreveport 

Charleston 

Jacksonville .... 

Mobile 

New Orleans 

Galveston 

San Antonio 



-50|- 
-50|- 
-41|- 
-45|- 
-26|- 
-26 - 
-44|- 
-411- 
-30|- 
-13- 
-24|- 
-141- 
-20|- 

- 5|- 

- 2- 
H- 

10 
15| 

ni- 
ls 
n| 

61 



-43- 

-48| 
-41 
-39|- 



-24—15 

-2 5 1 — 16 
-4 3 1 — 46 
-331—22 

-26 — 8| 
-ll|— S| 
-18|— 81 
-13|— 4| 
-211—121 
-12| 161 



- 5| 
71 

101 

- 1| 
7 



15 



12 

11 

25 

25 

13 

23 

26 

31| 42 

29 40 

28| 39 
17| 27| 40 
28| 39| 51 



8| 


25 


38| 


39 


22| 


32 


42 


53 


24| 


32 


45| 


51 


261 


34 


461 


54 


25| 


32 


46| 


50 


301 


38 


52| 


5S 


30| 


43 


52J 


57 


21| 


35 


44| 


53 



36[ 29 
36| 32 



64j 57 

66| 63 

66 j 68 

58 57 



—27 
— 28 
— 22 
—29 

— 1 

— 5 
—28 
— 24 
—10 

— 2 
—10 

2 

— 2 
10 
14 
18 
26 
26 
25 
29 
26 
21 



50 

50 

—41 

45 

26 

26 

44 

—41 

— 30 

—13 

—24 

— 14 

—23 

— 12 

— 8 

— 5 
7 

10 

— 1 
7 



MEAN MONTHLY PRECIPITATION (INCHES). 



Stations. 





>-. 






>, 








5 


3 


o 


_ 










1-5 


fa 


d 

3 


< 





















.O 




,Q 


01 


r- 


0) 












3 


P, 


o 


O 


*j 


CO 


O 


'A 



Edmonton 
Prince Albert. 
Swift Current. 
Winnipeg 
White River. . 

Ottawa 

Bismarck 

St. Paul 

Des Moines. . . 

Boston., , 

Albany 

Buffalo 

Chicago 

Little Rock. . . 

Atlanta 

Shreveport 
Charleston . . . 
Jacksonville . . 

Mobile 

New Orleans.. 
Galveston 
San Antonio. . 



0.68(0 

.97| 

.64| 

.88| 

1.69|1 

2.99|2 

.541 

.90 

1.21 1 

3.S2|3 

2.5 li 2 

3.30|2 

2.0012 



4.79 

5.31 

4.42 

3.45 

3.12 

4.85)5 

4.63|4 

3.62|3 

1.6SI1 



.67 0.72|0. 
.69| .77 . 
.741 .81 1 . 
-9S|l.03|l. 
.52|1.38|1. 
.69 2.72 1. 
.50|1.04|1. 
.S4|l.60|2. 
.0811.6512. 
.44|4. 0813. 
.5212.7412. 

S5|2.62|2, 

16|2.55|2. 
.1814.9414, 
.65|5.78|3, 
.61|4.52|4. 
.4113.72)2. 
.43|3.52|2, 
.3617.1714, 

4715.3014, 
.10[2.90|3 

7811.6812 



8811 
S3|l 
93il 



3313 
9814 
55|3 
391-2 
45|3 
ss :; 
51|5 
6313 
58 1 4 
99|3 
724 
3514 
91 3 
13|3 
94:2 



55 2.S6 
26 2.51 
7612.67 
2S|3.29 
95J2. 
59 2.92|3 
50|3.54|2 
62|4.41|3 
.5614.9613 
51|3.03|3 
9813.7613 



3.14 
3.66 
4.09 
0913.88)4 
16|3.5SJ3 
47|5.39]7 
.2515.5316 
0015.9517 
.SS|6.16'6 
.23 4.7513 
9613.1112 



0312. 

5 1 2 . 
4411. 
0S|2. 
8013. 
47|3. 
1411. 
4013. 
86 3. 
36|4. 
90|3. 
40|2. 
64]2. 
9913. 
7314. 



i:: !.:;•: o 
1511.281 
91 1.22 
67 2.03J1 
30|2.77 2 
0312.6912 
98J1.19I1 
46J3.42I2 
til 3.07 2 
0313. 19|3 
9613.18|2 
3.18 3 
3.02 
3.26 



.. ., 



4S|3.53 



2616 
L'n r, 
0416 
4 7 5 

9S'5 
22 2 



3.22 
5.46 
8.03 
S115.02 
6114.81 
01)5.41 
69(2.94 



70 


0.58 


S3 


.83 


88 


.69 


70 


1.08 


35 


1.85 


55 


2.54 


03 


.68 


34 


1.30 


68 


1.48 


86 


4.10 


99 


2. SO 


53 


3.35| 


55 


2.50 


55 


4.59 


34 


3.4(1 


18 


4.08 


93 


2.87 


06 


2.19 


18 


3.74 


93 


3.7'.» 


18 


4.02 


49 


1.78 
1 



0.70 
.74 
.78 
.91 
1.71 
2.91 
.62 
1.06 
1.31 
3,41 
2.57 
3.37 
2.07 
4.24 
4.54 
4.37 
3.15 
2.99 
4.57 
4.46 
3.73 
1.56 



15.83 
14.91 
15.47 
20.98 
24.79 
32.60 
17.64 
2S.68 
32.45 
43.38 
36.38 
37.28 
33.28 
49. S9 
49.36 
45.68 
52.07 
53.25 
62.04 
57.42 
47.06 
26.83 



81 



APPENDIX A — Continued. 

PERCENTAGES OP SUNSHINE. 



Stations. 



Battleford, Saskatch- 
wan 

"Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

Toronto, Ontario.... 

Ottawa, Ontario 

Quebec, Province of 
Quebec 

Bismarck 

St. Paul 

Des Moines 

Boston 

Albany 

Buffalo 

Chicago 

Little Rock 

Atlanta 

Shreveport f 

Charleston 

Jacksonville 

Mobile 

New Orleans 

Galveston 

San Antonio 



40 


49 


50[ 


41 


48 


491 


2T 


37 


40| 


30 


38 


40| 


30 


36 


41 


56 


62 


56 


50 


62 


62 


46 


47 


59 


4-1 


57 


60 


3x 


47 


51 


23 


40 


48 


37 


47 


55| 


4N 


55 


57| 


4 6 


51 


60 


4N 


51 


57 


61 


62 


69 


56 


58 


69 


5 4 


60 


63| 


52 


51 


60 


60 


59 


63 


48 


50 


49 



63| 59 

58! 60 



62 
51 
49 
58 
57 
59| 
53 
70 
68 
671 
56| 
631 



61 

49 
55 
65 
64 
62 
65 
69 
69 
75 
62 
71 
48| 54 



47 


52 


54 


44 


44 


34 


52 


59 


59 


47 


37 


34 


56 


60 


60 


55 


44 


29 


50 


53 


56 


45 


39 


28 


44 


46 


50 


42 


37 


24 


60 


71 


66 


59 


59 


50 


66 


75 


70 


62 


58 


48 


65 


70 


70 


60 


62 


54 


69 


72 


67 


58 


60 


48 


56 


59 


54 


47 


48 


34 


61 


67 


62 


57 


49 


30 


73 


71 


69 


65 


61 


52 


69 


68 


70 


74 


71 


61 


66 


58 


60 


62 


63 


62 


71 


66 


75 


79 


70 


56 


69 


63 


67 


68 


68 


70 


68 


64 


63 


61 


60 


59 


70 


59 


62 


63 


70 


69 


63 


54 


58 


53 


61 


56 


83 


74 


73 


71 


71 


61 


68 


67 


67 


68 


60 


45 



45 
47 
44 
41 

38 

59 
60 
59 
59 
47 
46 
58 
62 
58 
63 
66 
62 
63 
56 
67 
56 



Interpolated percentages of sunshine. 

MEAN RELATIVE HUMIDITY (PERCENTAGES). 

(8 a. m. and 8 p. m., 75th meridian time.) 



Stations. 



>. 

u 
a 

3 

a 


>> 
U 

3 

u 
,a 


o 


P. 

< 


>> 


CD 

c 
3 




3 
b£ 
3 
< 


S-i 
V 

s 

CD 

ft 

CD 

m 


u 

CD 
f$ 

o 
o 

O 


CD 

s 

CD 
> 

C 


0) 

CD 
O 
CD 

Q 



Bismarck . . . 

St. Paul 

Des Moines.. 

Boston 

Albany 

Buffalo 

Chicago 
Little Rock.. 
Atlanta 
Shreveport . 
Charleston. . . 
Jacksonville 

Mobile 

New Orleans. 
Galveston . .. 
San Antonio. 



a. m. 
p. m. . 
a. m. , 
p. m. . 
a. m. , 
p. m. , 
a. m. , 
p. m. . 
a. m. . 
p. m. 
a. m. . 
p. m. , 
a. m. 
p. m. 
a. m. 
p. m. 
a. m. 
p. m. 
a. m. 
p. m. 
a. m. 
p. m. 
a. m. 
p. m. 
a. m. 
p. m. 
a. m . 
p. m. 
a. m. 
p. m. 
a. m. 
p. m. 



80 


80 


80 


69 


69 


65 


83 


84 


80 


75 


74 


66 


82 


82 


79 


76 


73 


65 


73 


71 


70 


70 


67 


68 


82 


81 


79 



| 78 

SO 

| 7S 

I 84 

I 79 

80 

66 

81 

7u 

81 

| 65 

I 81 

| 76 

| 86 

| 77 

| 85 

I 75 

| 85 

| 73 

| 86 

| 83 

| 76 

I 56 



76 
53 
74 
54 
76 
551 
6n 
671 
73 
72| 64| 
77| 731 
75| 7l| 
79| 75| 
75| 701 
77 77 
59| 58| 
78| 74| 
62 591 
80| 8l| 
58 59! 
8l| 75 
76| 741 
■83| 78) 
72| 69( 
85| 82| 
75] 721 
851 83| 
71| 68 
88| 86| 
83| 81 
77| 8l| 
501 541 



771 81 

53] 58 

74| 78 

52] 56 

76| 79 

56| 59 

70| 72 

70j 71 

721 74 

64| 67 

741 76 

7l| 71 

75| 75 

681 69 

8l| 81 

62| 64 

74] 78 

59| 63 

84| 84 

62] 63 

76! 78 

76| 78 

791 81 

73' 78 

Sl| SI 

71( 73 

81| 81 

68j 71 

82| 82 

781 76 

S4| 84 

56| 51 



Slj 811 

50 53 

83| 83 

56! 60 



69 73 

75 77 

69| 72 

781 76 

691 68 

85 84 

65| 65 

85 82 
72| 60 
861 86 
64 63 
82 83 
80 80 
85| 86j 
81| 82 

86 85| 
78' 75 
84| 84| 
751 74| 
S2J 81] 
75 73 
85 84' 
491 53 



81 


■ 81 


80 


60 


69 


69 


80 


80 


83 


6 2 


69 


75 


80 


79 


S2 


59 


65 


74 


75 


75 


73 


72 


71 


69 


82 


82 


82 


7 3 


75 


75 


76 


77 


79 


72 


75 


77 


77 


79 


82 


6 7 


73 


78 


83 


80 


80 


60 


59 


64 


77 


77 


80 


61 


63 


70 


85 


83 


82 


59 


60 


64 


80 


80 


80 


76 


75 


75 


84 


85 


87 


79 


78 


77 


83 


84 


85 


70 


73 


76 


SI 


83 


84 



691 73 

80 83 
72 7S 

SO! 79] 
52 56 



80 
61 
80 
63 
80 
63 
73 
70 
78 
72 
77 
73 
78 
71 
81 
63 
79 
65 
83 
62 
79 
77 
83 
77 
84 
74 
83 
74| 72 
85 84 
80 78 
77| 81 
57! 53 



82 



AVERAGE DATE OF FIRST KILLING FROST IN AUTUMN. 

Edmonton, September 9. (Not much data available.) 

Prince Albert, September 9. (Not much data available.) 

Swift Current, September 11. (Not much data available.) 

Winnipeg, September 14. (Not much data available.) 

Bismarck, September 19. 

St. Paul, October 3. 

Des Moines, October 11. 

Boston, October 22. 

Albany, October 17. 

Buffalo, October 16. 

Chicago, October 18. 

Little Rock, November 13. 

Atlanta, November 3. 

Shreveport, November 11. 

Charleston, December 11. 

Jacksonville, December 6. 

Mobile, December 4. 

New Orleans, December 10. 

Galveston, December 24. 

San Antonio, November 26. 

AVERAGE DATE OF LAST KILLING FROST IN SPRING. 

Edmonton, May 17. (Not much data available.) 

Prince Albert, May 17. (Not much data available.) 

Swift Current, May 15. (Not much data available.) 

Winnipeg, May 15. (Not much data available.) 

Bismarck, May 12. 

St. Paul, April 27. 

Des Moines, April 22. 

Boston, April 20. 

Albany, April 23. 

Buffalo, April 26. 

Chicago, April 18. 

Little Rock, March IS. 

Atlanta, March 23. 

Shreveport, March 4. 

Charleston, February 19. 

Jacksonville, February 11. 

Mobile, February 16. 

New Orleans, February 3. 

Galveston, January 27. 

San Antonio, February 23. 

EARLIEST DATE OF KILLING FROST IN AUTUMN. 

Edmonton, August 25. (Not much data available.) 

Prince Albert, August 2 5. (Not much data available.) 

Bismarck, August 23. 

St. Paul, September S. 

Des Moines, September 13. 

Boston, September 21. 

Albany, September 15. 

Buffalo, September 23. 

Chicago, September 20. 

Little Rock, October 22. 

Atlanta, October 11. 

Shreveport, October 2S. 

Charleston, November 17. 

Jacksonville, November 12. 

Mobile, October 31. 

New <>;■;< ans, November 11. 

Galveston, November 30. 

San Antonio, November 9. 

LATEST DATE OF KILLING FROST IN SPRING. 

Edmonton, May 31. (Not much data available.) 
Prince Albert, May 31. (Not much data available.) 
Bismarck, June 7. 
St. Paul, May 23. 



8S 



Des Moines, May 31. 
Boston, May 16. 
Albany, May 30. 
Buffalo, May 25. 

Chicago, May 29. 
Little Rock, April 26. 
Atlanta. April IT. 
Shreveport, March 2 7. 
Charleston, April 2. 
Jacksonville. April 6. 
Mobile, April 6. 
New Orleans, March 27. 
Galveston, March 1. 
San Antonio, March 2 7. 



LENGTH OF THE CROP-GROWING SEASON. 

Days. 

Edmonton (approximately) 114 

Prince Albert (approximately) 114 

Swift Current ( approximately) 118 

Winnipeg (approximately) 121 

Bismarck 130 

St. Paul 159 

Des Moines 172 

Boston 18o 

Albany 177 

Buffalo 173 

Chicago 183 

Little Rock 24m 

Atlanta 225 

Shreveport 2 52 

Charleston 295 

Jacksonville 298 

Mobile 291 

New Orleans 310 

Galveston 331 

San Antonio 276 




SCENE NEAR MANY, SABIXE PARISH. 



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85 



APPENDIX C. 



Table showing total yield of corn, oats, wheat, and hay in the 11 cotton States 
of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North 
Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, for the years 
1909-1915, inclusive. 




1909 | 461,536,000 

1910 | 664,752,000 

1911 | 539,136,000 

1912 | 685,333,000 

1913 | 658,252,000 

1914 | 610,851,000 

1915 | 812,SS3,000 



291,755,000 
432,912,000 I 
432,898,000 | 
430,155,000 | 
442,802,000 | 
436,051,000 | 
513,908,000 | 



51,847, ) 

9(7,577,000 

65,506,000 | 

90,659,000 | 

97,237,000 | 

102,685,000 | 

157,714,000 1 



28,622.1100 
55,120,000 
34.619,000 
46.S29.000 
51,009,000 
85,188,000 
88,S42,000 



3,108,000 
3,428,000 
2,611,000 

4.205. 

4,2] 1,000 
4,577,000 
6,269,000 



f Total production of corn for States named above, other than Texas and 
Oklahoma. 

APPENDIX D. 
Yieid per acre in bushels and 10-year averages for 15 Southern States. 



TO -year average. 



State. 



(1870- 
I 1879 



1880- 
1889 



1890- 
1S99 



;1909 



1900-| 
19091 



1910 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

Florida 

Georgia 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maryland 

Mississippi 
North Carolina. 

Oklahoma 

South Carolina. 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Virginia 

West Virginia. . 



13.9 
24.4 
10.2 
11.2 
29.7 
17.2 
2d. 2 
15.4 
14.7 



12.6 
19.8 
9.6 
10.4 
23.8 
16.0 
24.2 
14.3 



12.8 
IS. 2 
9.7 
11.1 
25.7 
16.3 
27.0 
15.0 



12.2 I 13.0 



9.4 
24.2 

21.7 | 
20.1 | 
28.3 | 



9.4 
20.5 
18.1 
16.8 
23.4 



9.9 
22.0 
19.0 
19.1 

24.4 



13.5 

1S.7 I 
10.2 I 
11.5 
26.7 I 

17.5 | 

32.7 I 
15.2 I 

14.8 | 
24.2 | 

11.6 ! 
23.0 I 
19.0 

22.7 | 
27.5 



11.9 
14.8 
11.6 
11.6 
24.3 
16.4 
27.7 



1911 



1912 191311914 



19151 



18.0 
24.0 
13.0 
14.5| 
29.0 
23.6 
33.5 



13.1| 20.5 
13.8| 18.6 



15.9 
13.3 
21.5 
14.7 



16.0 
IS. 5 
2 5.9 
20.6 



20.6 25.5 
25.31 26.0 



18.0 
20. S 
14.6 
16.0 
26.0 
18.5 
36.5 
19.0 
18.4 

6.5 
18.2 
26.8 

9.5 
24.0 
25.7 



17.2 


17.3 


17.0 


20.4 


19.0| 17.5 


13.0 


15.0 


16.0 


13.8 


15.5 


14.0 


30.4 


20.5 


25.0 


IS. II 


22.0 


19.3 


3 6.5 


33.0 


37.0 


18.3 


20.0 


18.5 


18.2 


19.5 


20.3 


18.7 


11.0 


12.5 


17.9 


19.5 


18.5 


26.5 


20.5 


24.01 


21.0 


24.0 19.5| 


| 24.0 


26.0 20.5 


33.8 


31.0 


31.0] 



17.0 
23.0 
15.0 
15.0 
30,0 
20.5 
35.0 
19.0 
21.0 
29.5 
16.5 
2 7.0 
23.5 
2S.5 
31.5 



f December, 1915, "Crop Reporter." 

APPENDIX E. 
Table I. — Mineral products of Southern States compared with United States, 

1913-1915. 



1913 



1914 



1915 



Southern States $505,363,082 $467,044,946 $490,600, 

United States $2, 439, 159,72S|$2,114,946,024|$2. 373, 280,000 

Southern States, per cent of Unitedl 

States I -1 22 20 



In the above totals pig iron is used as the basis of iron valuation. (United 
States Geological Survey.) 



S6 



Table II. — Mineral products of Southern States and United States, 1914 and 

1915. 



Product. 



1914 



1915 



Southern 
States. 



United 

States. 



Southern 
States. 



United 

States. 



,434 

S5.464 

L4.852 

2,524 



833 
03 6 
ii47 
017 



T.252, 
r,398, 
i5,633, 
)4,051. 
9,592, 
L3.416, 
!5,530, 



338 
597 
268 
228 
55d 
185 
229 



SSI,, 

4 9 3. 

\\ 

152, 



533,20 
300,24 
334.21 
968,24 



I !ement i $1^ 

Coal (bituminous) t- ■•• | 15; 

Coke % I U 

Copper | 

Iron : 

Ore % ■ 

Pig I 

Lead | IE 

Petroleum j 104 

Phosphate rock I 

Zinc I i; 

All other minerals | 12 1 

| 

Total | 467,044,946| 2,114,946,024| 490,600.000| 2,373,280,000 

I I 



71 
298 

39 

214 

9 

,3 3 
790 



905,07 
777,42 
997,93 
125,21 
608,04 
028,63 
598.07 



512,796, 

L55.860, 

15,737, 

3.245, 

£308, 

36,970, 
20,529, 
88,000, 
5,400, 
42,734. 
L25.064, 



395 
000 
403 
039 



$75, 
504, 
10 5. 
242 



548 
059 
619 
000 
836 
129 
000 



101, 
401, 
47, 
172, 
5, 
113, 
810, 



155,102 
500,000 
503,868 
900,000 

288,984 
409,604 
660,000 
000,000 
413,449 
617,500 
624,000 



j Exclusive of Pennsylvania anthracite. 

J Value not included in total value, as such inc'.usion would duplicate coal 
and pig iron values. 

Table III. — Mineral- products of Southern States by States, 1913 to 1915. 



1913 



1914 



1915 



Alabama 

Arkansas. 

Florida 

Georgia 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maryland 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

North Carolina. 

Oklahoma 

South Caroana . 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Virginia 

West Virginia. . 



$34, c ;o,5 1 i 


530,879,288, 


529,500,000 


6,7S0,76i 


5,785,199| 


6,580,000 


L0, 508, 016 


8, Ui;,68S| 


4,863,0U0 


6,525,792 


5,695.o s4 


5,354,000 


20, 845,57 9 


26,638,474 


27,460,000 


21,011,828 


21,89 ',025 


18,6 ..0,0 


11. -'92, 723 


10,587,531 


HI, old, imp) 


1,143,472 


1,104,197| 


6 62,0i 


54,001,088 


48,597,593| 


; :../ ii. -ii 


3,739,693 


3,519,2451 


3,458, 


80,168,820 


78,744,447 


72.4m:, 


1,464,150 


1,414,294 


1,010,00 i 


21,008,938 


19,615.213 


22,1 , 


31,666,910 


30,363,426| 


29,137. nil 


17,178,580 


16,400,347| 


16,895,00 i 


143,591,272 


134,071,803 


134,100, mi 



In the above States totals iron ore is used as the basis of iron valuation. 
(United States Geo.ogical Survey.) 

APPENDIX F. 

Manufacturers' Record, 

Baltimore, June 28, 1916. 
Hon. Joseph E. Ransdell, 

United States Senate, Washington, D. C. 
My Dear Senator Ransdell: As I understand you intend to make an 
address shortly touching on the agricultural development of the South, 
permit me to call your attention to a few facts that bear directly on the 
agricultural prosperity of this section and the general prosperity of the 
Nation. 



87 

Until the people of the whole country come to realize that the South is 
the Nation's greatest undeveloped asset they will never fully realize how 
its development will enrich the Nation and how everything that helps to 
advance the progress of the South safeguards the business interests as 
well as the actual life of the Nation. 

In this section, where iron ore and coal are in vast abundance, fur- 
nishing unsurpassed advantages for the production of iron and steel, and 
all of the products of iron and steel, which produces three-fourths of the 
sulphur of the world, and which has many other natural advantages un- 
equaled in this or in any other country, industrial development is limited 
as compared with that of other sections. 

There are many reasons for this, and one of them is that the Nation 
as a whole has concentrated its thought and energy, through Government 
circles and in other ways, upon the development of the North and the 
West to the exclusion of the South. Let me illustrate: 

Over 90 per cent of the steel made in the United States is made out of 
ores that are mined in the Lake Superior district, immediately contiguous 
to Canada, a region which could easily be overrun and captured at any 
moment by an enemy assailing us through Canada. But more than that, 
these ores to the extent of more than 50,000,000 tons a year pass through 
the Soo Canal, only about one and one-quarter miles long. I am reliably 
informed by some of the best engineers in the country that two or three 
sticks of dynamite could be exploded in such a way as to completely 
block this canal. Instantaneously, the entire iron and steel industry of 
the country to the extent of 90 per cent of our output would collapse. A 
few million tons of foreign ores are imported,- and, of course, all importa- 
tions of ore would be instantaneously shut off by war unless we had the 
complete command of the sea, and that is hardly possible any time in the 
near future. 

We are thus staking the business interests of the country and national 
life itself upon one ore supply, the capture of which or the blocking of 
the canal through which the ore passes, would make impossible the pro- 
duction of armor plate or of munitions of war. Along the Atlantic coast, 
say from Boston to Newport News, stretching back anywhere from 10 to 
100 miles, but covering in the aggregate probably not over 2 per cent or 3 
per cent of the Nation's area, is centered the entire munition-making 
business of the United States. All of this munition-making business 
would have to be instantaneously stopped if the Lake Superior ore sup- 
ply were cut off iby capture of the district or by the blocking of the Soo 
Canal. In such an event any effort to oppose invasion would be useless, 
and any army or naval officer familiar with the situation will confirm 
this statement. 

This mighty Nation — mighty in population and in wealth — would 
under such conditions be as helpless as an infant against a giant. The 
South is the only section of the country which can possibly provide a 
remedy for this situation. In the South and Southwest, back of the 
mountain ranges which would afford protection against invasion, there 
are vast stores of iron ore and coal and manganese, lead, and zinc, and 
all other materials needed for the making of war supplies, explosives in- 
cluded. The South has about three-fifths of the Nation's coast line; it 
produces all of the Nation's cotton and more than one-fourth of the 
Nation's grain; but neither the Government nor the great financial and 
metallurgical leaders of the country have given heed to the supreme 
necessity of utilizing this situation by the development of great iron 
and steel and munition-making interests in the South and Southwest, 
far away from the coast and from the Lakes, and not dependent upon 
Lake Superior or foreign ores. 



Until this is done all talk of preparedness is largely a visionary dream. 
I suggest, therefore, that you bring to the attention of the Senate and of 
the country this danger, which is so vital, and which can ibe removed in 
no other possible way than by the prompt development on a large scale 
of munition-making and kindred industries in the South and Southwest. 
To permit existing conditions in iron and steel and munition making to 
last any longer would be as criminal on the part of national legislation 
and on the part of our business men as would be the failure to enlarge 
our Navy and Army. 

The South supplies every possible material for the making of explo- 
sives, the building of ships, the construction of armor, and the creation 
of great steel industries, all far from the dangers which confront these 
interests along the Atlantic coast or on the Lakes, dependent as they are 
upon supplies which could be cut off without a moment's warning. 

I trust you will appeal to the patriotism of the Senate to study this 
situation and realize its danger before it is too late. 

Sincerely yours, RICHARD H. EDMONDS, Editor. 



APPENDIX G. 

Public road mileages and cash expenditures in the Southern States, 1904, Office 
of Public Roads and Rural Engineering. 



State. 



Total 
mileage. 



Improved 
mileage. 



Total cash 
road and 
bridge ex- 
penditures 
in 1904. 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

Florida 

Georgia 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maryland 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

North Carolina. 

Oklahoma 

South Carolina. 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Virginia 

West Virginia. . 



Total. 



50,089 
36,445 
17,374 
57,203 
57,137 
24,897 
16,773 
38,698 

108,133 
49,763 
43,554 
41,830 
48,989 

121,409 
51,812 
26,178 



790,284 



1,720 

236 

886 

1,634 

9,486 

34 

1,570 

149 

2,733 

1,259 



1,878 
4,285 
2,128 
1,600 
255 



29,85c 



$378,040 
681,934 
437,184 
894,936 

1,161,194 
::45,432 
873,470 
339,699 

1,570,801 
624,381 
447,320 
334,0S2 
729,232 

2,543,613 
6S7,751 
5S7.870 



12,636,959 



Per cent improved 

Cash expenditure per mile of road. . . . 
For the entire United States : 

Per cent improved 

Cash expenditure per mile of road. 



3. 8 

$16 



7. 1 
$28 



89 



Public road mileage and cash expenditures in the Southern States, 1914. 
(Data approximate.) 

OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS AND RURAL ENGINEERING. 



State. 



Total 
mileage. 



Surfaced 
mileage. 



Total cash 
road and 
bridge ex- 
penditures 
in 1914. 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

Florida 

Georgia 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maryland 

Mississippi .... 

Missouri 

North Carolina. 
Oklahoma .... 
South Carolina. 
Tennessee .... 

Texas 

Virginia 

"West Virginia . . 



57,895 
47,485 
17,607 
95,926 
63,510 
24,962 
16,459 
44,072 

120,000 
50,958 

107,736 
47,787 
45,913 

128,971 
53,366 
32,024 



6,295 
5,095 
3,246 
12,657 
12,063 
1,000 
2,482 
1,800 
8,000 
6,223 
500 
4,513 
5,554 
9,790 
3.56S 
1,369 



Total. 



954,671 



84,155 



$3,125,925 
2,447,368 
3,450,000 
2,500,000 
1,718,000 
4,461,506 
6,997,458 
2,850,000 
8,277,253 
3,925,000 
3,375,000 
1,000,000 
2,500,000 
8,750,000 
3,915,446 
2,388,000 



61,6S0,956 



Per cent improved 

Cash expenditures per mile of road. 
For the entire United States : 

Per cent improved 

Cash expenditure per mile. . 



8.9 

$64 



10.9 
$100 



THE PARISHES OF LOUISIANA 

THE STATE OF LOUISIANA is divided into sixty-four parishes, or 
counties, the word "parishes" being strictly a localism and has 
exactly the same meaning as county. Of these sixty-four parishes, 
fifty-five are»reached by navigalble streams, which are open nearly all 
of the year, and furnish means of transportation 'by this cheapest of all 
methods. They also create great competition among the railroad lines, 
and thus it is that Louisiana enjoys unusually low freight rates. These 
parishes are naturally divided into certain classes, which classification 
is based on the character of soil found in different sections of the State. 
Starting with the north Louisiana parishes, we find the first great agri- 
cultural division known as the Good Uplands. These lands are from 300 
to 500 feet above the level of the sea. The soil is gray or yellow sandy 
loam, and very fertile. It washes easily, however, unless cultivated by 
horizontal plowing or embankments. The subsoil is a deep, sandy clay, 
and retains fertilizers well. Under this classification we find the par- 
ishes of Caddo, DeSoto, Sabine, Bossier, Webster, iRed River, Claiborne, 
Bienville, Union, Jackson, Ouachita, Morehouse, and parts of Caldwell 
and East and West Feliciana. 



90 

The red lands are on high ridges, but are very tenacious, and are not 
easily washed. They are very fine cotton and corn lands, but are espe- 
cially adapted to small grain. The natural forest growth of these lands 
are oaks of different varieties, dogwood, beech, sassafras, gum, ash, 
maple and short-leaf pine. Most of f he parishes placed under this head 
are of heavy alluvial land bordering on the streams which intersect them. 

The alluvial region comprises the most fertile agricultural lands of 
the State. They are those parishes which border on the Mississippi 
River, the Red River, the Ouachita, and their tributaries, the Gulf Coast 
and lakes. This region occupies about IS',000 square miles, and its vast 
possibilities are inconceivable. 

ALL THE PARISHES were requested to write their own descriptions, 
but only a few responded, and hence a general outline of the loca- 
tions and characteristics of the others are all that can be presented. 

Below will be found the assessments for 1910, given in alphabetical 
order, followed by the populations as given by the United States Census 
of that year: 

TOTAL ASSESSMENT STATE OF LOUISIANA FOR THE YEAR 

1910. 
Parishes — ■ 

Acadia $ 7,419,900 

Ascension 4,150,613 

Assumption 3,738,250 

Avoyelles 4,641,320 

Bienville 4,108,2S2 

Bossier 3,406,449 

Caddo 20,457,065 

Calcasieu 29,907,880 

Caldwell 1,820,340 

Cameron 1,395,640 

Catahoula 2,10S,045 

Claiborne 2,530,460 

Concordia 2,009,540 

DeSoto 4,193,570 

East Baton Rouge 8,921.161 

East Carroll *• • 1,918,620 

East Feliciana 2,4£9,908 

Franklin ' 2,783,156 

Grant 4,148,648 

Iberia : 7,669,228 

Iberville 4,442,192 

Jackson 2,259,036 

Jefferson 5,682,378 

Lafayette 5,564,105 

Lafourche ..' • 4 ' 966 ' 7 ' ° 

LaSalle 3 > 731 > 926 

Lincoln 2 < 656 ' 601 

Livingston 3 - 095 - 92 

Madison 2 > 779 ^0 

Morehouse , 3,944,560 

Natchitoches 7,344,o70 

Orleans 231,045,937 



91 



Parishes — 

Ouachita f 7,811,155 

Plaquemines 2,555,235 

Pointe Coupee 3,093,523 

Rapides 10,695,730 

Red River 1,510,491 

Richland 2,914.325 

Sabine 3,939,580 

St. Bernard 3,661,121 

St. Charles 2,980,676 

St. Helena 1,381,265 

St. James 4, £64,790 

St. John 3,554,703 

St. Landry 11,195,820 

St. Martin 3,720,570 

St. Mary 7,959,245 

St. Tammany 5,985,950 

Tangipahoa S, 558, 290 

Tensas 2,0S7,590 

Terrebonne 4,927,981 

Union 2,704.275 

Vermilion 4,873,970 

Vernon 10,182,820 

Washington •. 4,544,870 

Webster 3,393,263 

West Baton Rouge 2,251,861 

West Carroll 1,935,900 

West Feliciana 2,044,961 

Winn 5,002,360 

Grand total $527,773,950 

POPULATION OF PARISHES. 

The population of the State of Louisiana is 1,656,388, as compared 
with 1,381,625 in 1900, and 1, 118,587 in 1890. The increase from 1900 to 
1910, therefore, is 274,763, or 19.9 per cent, as compared with an increase 
for the preceding decade of 263,038, or 23.5 per cent. 

The distribution of the population of the State by parishes is shown 
by the following table: 

1910 1900 1890 

The State 1,656,388 1,381,625 1,118,587 

Parishes — 

Acadia 31,847 2:1.483 13.231 

Ascension 23.8S7 24.142 19,545 

Assumption 24,12s 21,620 19,629 

Avoyelles 34,102 2£,701 25.112 

Bienville 21.776 17.5S8 14,108 

Bossier 21,738 24.153 20,330 

Caddo 58,200 44,499 31,555 

Calcasieu 62,767 30,428 20,176 

Caldwell 8,593 6,917 5,814 

Cameron 4.2SS 3,952 2,828 



92 



1910 

Catahoula 10,415 

Claiborne '. 25,050 

Concordia 14,278 

DeSoto 27,689 

East Baton Rouge 34.5S0 

Bast Carroll 11,637 

East Feliciana 20,055 

Franklin 11,989 

Grant 15,958 

Iberia 31,262 

Iberville 30, £54 

Jackson 13,818 

Jefferson 18,247 

LaSalle 9,402 

Lafayette 28,733 

Lafourche 33,111 

Lincoln 18,485 

Livingston 10,627 

Madison 10,676 

Morehouse 18,786 

Natchitoches 36,455 

Orleans 339,075 

Ouachita 25,830 

Plaquemines 12,524 

Pointe Coupee ..25,289 

Rapides 44,545 

Red River 11,402 

Richland 15,769 

Sabine 19,874 

St. Bernard 5,277 

St. Charles 11,207 

St. Helena ■ 9,172 

St. James 23,009 

St. John the Baptist 14,338 

St. Landry 66,661 

St. Martin 23,070 

St. Mary 39,368 

St. Tammany 18,917 

Tangipahoa 29,160 

Tensas 17,060 

Terrebonne :. 28,320 

Union 20,451 

Vermilion .' 26,390 

Vernon 17,384 

Washington 18,886' 

Webster 19,186 

West Baton Rouge 12,636 

West Carroll 6.24S' 

West Feliciana 13,449 

Winn 18,357 



1900 


1890 


16,351 


12,002 


23,029 


23,312 


13,559 


14,871 


25,063 


19,860 


31,153 


25,922 


11,373 


12,362 


20,443 


17,903 


8,890 


6,900 


12,902 


8,270 


29,015 


20,997 


27,006 


21,848 


9,119 


7,453 


15,321 


13,221 


22,825 


15,966 


28,882 


22,095 


15,898 


14,753 


8,100 


5,769 


12,322 


14,135 


16,634 


16,786 


33,216 


25,836 


87,104 


242,039 


20,947 


17,9S5 


13,039 


12,541 


2-5,777 


19,613 


39.57S 


27,642 


11,548 


11,318 


11,116 


10,220 


15,421 


9,3£0 


5,031 


4,326 


9,072 


7,737 


8,479 


8,062 


20,197 


15,715 


12,330 


11,359 


52,906 


40,250 


18,940 


14,884 


34,145 


22,416 


13,335 


10,160 


17,625 


12,655 


19,070 


16,647 


24,464 


• 20,167 


18,520 


17,304 


20,705 


14,234 


10,327 


5,903 


9,628 


6,700 


15,125 


12,466 


10,285 


8,363 


3,685 


3,748 


15,994 


15,062 


9,648 


7,082 



93 

ESTIMATED POPULATION FOR 1916. 

Estimated 
Population 
July 1, 1916. 

Louisiana 1,829,130 

Acadia 37,106 

tAscension 23,887 

Assumption 25,705 

Avoyelles 36,869 

Bienville 24,409 

tBossier 21,738 

Caddo 66,812 

tCalcasieu 83,098 

Caldwell 9,646 

Cameron 4,500 

flCatahoula 21.S97 

Claiborne 26,320 

Concordia 14,730 

De Soto 29,340 

East Baton Rouge 36,735 

East Carroll 11,804 

tEast Feliciana 20,055 

Franklin 13,937 

Grant 17,878 

Iberia 32,673 

Iberville 33,436 

Jackson 16,772 

Jefferson 20,086 

tfLa Salle 

Lafayette 32,447 

Lafourche 35,769 

Lincoln 20,113 

Livingston 12,215 

tMadison 10,676 

Morehouse 20,139 

Natchitoches 38,492 

Orleans 371,747 

Ouachita 28,899 • 

tPlaquemines 12,524 

tPointe Coupee 25,289 

Rapides 47,669 

tRed River 11,402 

Richland 18,694 

Sabine 22,675 

St Bernard '. 5,433 

St. Charles 12,549 

St. Helena 9,608 

St. James 24,776 

St. John the Baptist 15,598 

§St. Landry 75,309 

St. Martin 25,665 

St. Mary 42,652 

St. Tammany 22,425 

Tangipahoa 36,411 

fTensas 17,060 

Terrebonne 30,742 



94 



Estimated 
Population 
July 1, 1916. 

Union 21,664 

Vermilion 29, £62 

Vernon 21,819 

Washing-ton 24,705 

Webster 21,738 

West Baton Rouge 14,114 

West Carroll 7,860 

tWest Feliciana 13,449 

Winn 23,832 

t Population April 15, 1910. Decrease since 1900; no estimate made. 
t Includes population of Allen, Beauregard and Jefferson Davis par- 
ishes, organized from parts of Calcasieu in 1913. Impossible to estimate. 

11 LaSalle Parish organized from part of Catahoula Parish in 1910. 
Population included with that of Catahoula; no estimate made. 

§ Includes population of Evangeline Parish, organized from part of 
St. Landry Parish in 1911; no estimate made. 




RICE IX A WAREHOUSE. 



ACADIA PARISH. 

Acadia Parish is situated in the southwestern part of the State, and 
contains 394,240 acres of land. 

The formation is prairie; soil fertile and productive. It is drained by 
Bayou Nezique to the west, and Queue de Tortue on the south, and 
through its central portions by Bayous Cannes and Plaquemines Brulee. 

Water is plentiful and good throughout the parish. 

Oil has been discovered in paying quantities. The Mamou field has 
furnished several gushers of considerable magnitude. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad and branches pass through the parish; 
Crowley, situated on this line, is the parish seat, and one of the most 
prosperous cities of the State. 



95 



Rice and sugar are the principal crop productions. The largest rice 
producing paristi in the State; corn, cotton, hay, oats, sweet and Irish 
potatoes, and~eowpeas are also produced. 

The fruits and nuts are the orange, grape, pear, prune, peach, fig, 
pomegranate and pecan. Timber is found along the bayous and coulees, 
suitable for building and fencing, embracing the varieties of oak, cypress, 
Cottonwood, elm, gum, ash, sugarwood, sycamore, persimmon and willow. 
The raising of live stock is a profitable industry, and sheep, cattle, horses 
and hogs thrive and increase remarkably well here; many of the farmers 
being largely interested in wool growing. 

Game is found, such as rice birds, partridges, plovers, becasine and 
jacksnipe, and papabot and doves. 

ALLEN PARISH. 

A southwestern parish • contains 478,510 acres. Principal agricultural 
products are rice, cotton, corn and sweet potatoes, etc. Stock is much 
improved. Dipping vats one of the greatest causes of improvement. 
Hogs, too, with cholera serum available, are becoming quite an industry. 
Lumber a great industry; fcur large sawmills at Oakdale. Schools in 
fine condition; four high schools; one has a commercial and' three 
domestic science departments; one an agricultural and one a manual 
training department— between 2,500 and 4,000 pupils, one school with 21 
teachers has already enrolled 103. Buildings are nearly all new, three 
brick and modern. Both Catholic and protestant churches in the parish. 
One ward just voted $150,000.00 for a gravel road. The fruits are 
peaches, pears, a few apples and Satsuma oranges. There are corn, pig 
and poultry clubs. 




THE OLD HOME OF DUNCAN F. KEXNER. 



96 



ASCENSION PARISH. 

This parish, in the southeastern part of Louisiana, about forty miles 
northwest of New Orleans, with a population of about 28,000, is une- 
qually bisected by the Mississippi, that section east of the river being 
larger. 

Climatic and health conditions are excellent. Its level, incomparably 
fertile land, protected by a perfect levee system, is intersected by good 
roads. 

The railroads of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley, the Louisiana Rail- 
way & Navigation Company and the Frisco lines over the same road, on 
the east bank — on the west the Texas & Pacific, with its two branches, 
together with the Mississippi and Amite Rivers, transport her products 
to the great markets. Two privately owned roads enable many farmers 
of the eastern section to ship cane to the factories of the railroad owners. 

The chief product is cane, converted by six factories into sugar, which 
averages 160 pounds to the ton. 

Rice is extensively grown, yielding about fourteen bags to the acre. 

The rental system obtains partly. 

Corn and hay are raised for home use. 

Cotton, once the principal crop of the New River and Brusle sec- 
tions, has, because of the boll weevil, given place to cane, corn and hogs. 
Stock does well, but is not extensively raised. The mild climate and 
variety of forage plants should promote a large dairy industry. Two 
crops of many vegetables may be grown the same year. Blackberries 
and figs abound. Trucking and canning will pay farmers and promoters 
when organized according to western methods. 

Loquat and Kumquat oranges, Japanese persimmons and quinces and 
certain varieties of peaches and pears thrive if tended. 

Poultry thrives, and the industry is capable of indefinite expansion. 

Shrimp abound and would justify canneries. 

One immense sawmill and six smaller ones convert into lumber the 
hardwoods, cypress, oak, ash and gum. 

Catfish, buffalo, sardines, trout, bream, bass, perch and sacalait 
swim in river and stream — deer, quail, plover, snipe, dove, papabotte and 
poule d'eau run in field and forest. 

Donaldsonville, fronting the Mississippi, is the parish seat. Her mer- 
cantile business is large. 

ASSUMPTION PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southern part of the State, and con- 
tains 227,200 acres of land. The formation is composed of alluvial land 
and wooded swamp; soil rich and highly productive. 

It is drained by Bayous Lafourche, Grant and Vincent, and Grand 
River and Grand Lake. 

The Southern Pacific (main line) runs through its extreme southern 
sections, and has a 'branch line, running from Napoleonville, south, con- 
necting with the main line at Schriever Junction. The Texas and Pa- 
cific Railway also has a branch line, traversing the parish north and 
south, along the east bank of Bayou Lafourche, connecting with the main 
line at Donaldsonville. 

Napoleonville, cituated on Bayou Lafourche, is the parish seat. 



97 




98 



Sugar is the chief crop, and rice, corn, hay, oats, sweet and Irish 
potatoes, peas, tobacco and the garden varieties are produced. The 
fruits and nuts are the orange, fig, pear, plum, peach, persimmon, pom- 
egranate and grape, pecans and English walnuts. 

The timber is chiefly cypress, oak, gum and persimmon, with some 
Cottonwood, willow and sycamore. Some live stock is raised, mostly 
cattle and hogs. There is such game as partridges, rice birds, plovers, 
snipe and becasine, coons, opossums, mink and squirrels; also, in sea- 
son, wild ducks, wild geese and woodcock. 

The bayous and lakes furnish varieties of fish, among them trout, 
black bass, and white perch. 

AVOYELLES PARISH. 

Avoyelles Parish is situated near the central part of the State, and 
contains 539,520 acres of land. 

The formation is of several varieties; alluvial land, prairie, bluff 
land and wooded swamp, the latter predominating. The soil is fertile 
and productive. It is drained by the Red, Saline and Atchafalaya Rivers, 
and Bayous Long, Xatchitoches, Avoyelles, Des Glaizes and Rouge. 

Water is plentiful and of good quality. 

The main line of the Texas and Pacific Railroad passes through its 
southwestern section, and has two branch lines traversing the parish 
east and west and a portion of the northern central part af the parish. 
The Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company's line crosses the par- 
ish from northeast to southwest. Marks ville is the parish seat. 

The products are chiefly cotton and corn; sugar cane, alfalfa, oats, 
hay, peas, sweet and Irish potatoes, sorghum and garden varieties are 
also produced. 

The fruits and nuts succeed well here, such as peaches, pears, pecans, 
apples, figs, plums, quinces, grapes, pomegranates, persimmons and the 
smaller kinds. 



M13aL 






I'm 


|Kf2/ j'JH? 


M\M 



TEXAS & PACIFIC BRIDGE ACROSS THE ATCHAFALAYA. 



99 



The live stock industry is profitable and cattle, sheep, hogs, horses 
and mules are raised in abundance. 

Game is plentiful, such as bear, deer, foxes, coons, opossums, squir- 
rels, rabbits and wild turkeys, partridges, rice birds, robins, snipe, 
woodcock, wild ducks, wild geese, pheasants and plovers. Fish of excel- 
lent quality and large quantities abound in the lakes and streams. The 
timber of this parish is very extensive, comprising oak, ash, cypress, 
gum, elm, Cottonwood, poplar, pine, locust beech, maple, hickory, holly, 
magnolia, walnut, hackberry, sycamore, persimmon and willow. 

BEAUREGARD PARISH. 

One of the new parishes, in southwestern Louisiana, with 732,000 
acres. Corn is the principal agricultural product, but cotton and pota- 
toes are also produced. 

Stock raising, that was once upon the old range system, is giving 
away and high grades are developing much interest. Besides cattle, 
horses, mules, hogs and sheep are being raised. Lumber is still the 
greatest industry of the parish. Twelve large sawmills with an output 
of ifrom 50,000 to 300,000 feet per day are in operation. 

The experimental farm at Bon Ami is a great aid in the develop- 
ment of fruit culture. Figs and oranges do well. A farm demonstrator 
is doing good work, especially in corn and pig clubs, while a lady is 
developing the home clubs — poultry, canning, etc. 

There are two high schools with agricultural and domestic science 
departments, besides four other five-room schools that teach domestic 
science. 

Churches of different denominations throughout the parish. 

Great interest developing in good roads. A recent vote of 3 to 1 ma- 
jority has ordered a $500,000 bond issue for road purposes. 

BIENVILLE PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northwestern part of the State and 
contains 547,840 acres of land. Its formation is good upland, red, sandy 
clays, the soil being fertile and productive. 

It is drained by Lake Bisteneau on the west, and by Bayous Black- 
lake, Saline, and the headwaters of the Dugdemona River in other 
sections. 

The Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad passes through the 
northern portion o.f the parish. The Louisiana and Northwestern Rail- 
road runs north and south, from Gibsland, on the Vicksburg, Shreveport 
and Pacific Railroad, connecting on the north with the Cctton Belt, and 
on the south with the Texas & Pacific and the Louisiana Railway and 
Navigation Company. 

Water is abundant and good. Many springs, creeks and branches. 

Arcadia, situated on the Vicksburg", Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, 
is the parish seat, and has a cotton compress, cotton oil mill, ice factory, 
electric light plant and other industries. 

The timber is oak, pine, ash, cypress, persimmon, gum, leech, elm, 
holly, hickory, sycamore, poplar and Cottonwood. 



ICO 





101 




A FARMER'S BUNGALOW IN NORTH LOUISIANA. 



Cotton is the chief crop product; corn, hay, oars, peas, sugar cane, 
sweet and Irish potatoes, sorghum and the garden vejeta : ies a i do well. 
A diversified farming section. 

The fruits and nuts are apples, pears, peaches, pecans, plun :s, quinces, 
grapes and figs. 

Cattle, hogs, sheep and horses are raised and thrive well. 

Game is found, such as deer, coons, opossums, foxes sq irrels rab- 
bits, mink, wild turkeys, wild ducks and geese, partridges, snipe, and 
woodcock. Fish cf gcod quality are found in the lakes ana streams, 
among them bar fish, trout, bass and perch. There are deposits of salt, 
fireclay, potters' clay, marl and green sand. 

BOSSIER PARISH. 

Bossier parish is located in the northwest corner of the State. Along 
Red River there is a belt of alluvial bottom lands, consisting of 120,000 
acres; back from the river lie the rolling hill lands amounting to 385,000 
acres. 

Good water is found at a depth of from 20 to 80 feet, and there are 
springs throughout the hills. 

This section of the country is equal for truck, fruit and other farm- 
ing to many of the more widely advertised parts of the South: such 
pasture grasses as Bermuda grass, Carpet grass, Japan clover, etc.. make 
live stock a profitable industry. 

The great attraction this section has for the northern farmer is the 
climate; it is practicable to farm eleven months in the year . freezing 
weather will not occur more than twenty or thirty days in the winter 
season, nor last more than a day or two at a time. 

Good material for the building of roadways, a disintegrated iron rock, 
is abundant, and some very satisfactory results have been attained. 



102 




A FARM HOUSE IN BOSSIER PARISH. 




fetpywfr" 7 ' 't !LJa ^ L ''i^^!^!T*^^^^- w* 




A BOSSIER PARISH EXHIBIT- 



103 



Schools consisting' of the usual primary and high school grades are 
conveniently located throughout the parish. 

Churches of all the different denominations are represented both in 
town and country. 

Agriculture is the main occupation of the people; cotton, corn and 
hay are the staple crops. 

Alfalfa grows luxuriantly in the bottom lands, and is a finer quality 
than that of the North or West, producing about four tons to the acre. 

Oats are a paying crop in this section, when planted in the fall 
affording a fine winter pasture, and are ready to harvest the last of 
May. 

The early production of truck for the northern markets has been 
found profitable. 

All fruits'and nuts of standard and semi-tropical type grow in abund- 
ance. 

CADDO PARISH. 

Caddo is located in the extreme northwest corner of the State. The 
parish has an area of 545,280 acres of land, which is characterized as 
upland and alluvial. 

Shreveport is a city of 30,000 souls. The city as a whole is supported 
by the surrounding fertile lands and the lumber industry, though the 
gas and oil business is a rapidly increasing feature of the city's com- 
mercial life. 

Comparison of the weather records of Shreveport, Fort Worth and 
Dallas will show that on unusually cold days it is from 5 to 10 degrees 
warmer in Shreveport, while during the hot weather the records here 
show a temperature 5 to 10 degrees cooler. Yet the Texas cities are 
practically on the same longitude as Shreveport and Caddo Parish. 

Caddo is equipped with one of the best school systems in the State. 
Shreveport's school system is unexcelled, while in the country districts 
the parish is being redistricted and graded schools installed. School 
vans are furnished by the parish board to haul the children to and 
from school. 

A movement is now on foot for better roads throughout the parish, 
while this will not only better the country schools but will enable the 
planters to bring their crops to market with much less expense. 

In addition to its agricultural wealth Caddo also has one of the 
greatest oil fields in the South, and the greatest gas field in the world. 
Gas wells making 50,000,000 cubic feet of the best of all heating and 
illuminating gas are a matter of every day occurrence in the Caddo field. 
These are the things which Caddo can claim with all truth: Shreve- 
port, one of the greatest cities of the State, whose death rate is the lowest 
in the entire nation. A city of excellent schools, of many churches, more 
paved streets than any other city of the same population in the United 
States. A city which is the home of the State Fair, a Charity Hospital 
(State institution), two orphan asylums, one Old Ladies' Home, five col- 
leges, all church institutions, and two business colleges. 

Caddo contains excellent cotton-producing soil, makes corn equal to 
any in the country, produces potatoes and other truck to an extent 



104 



unexcelled by any other section of the South. Lands are cheap and the 
new homeseeker will find Caddo one of the best places on earth to 
which he may bring his family and an ambition to build a new home 
and a fortune. 

CALCASIEU PARISH. 

Its .formation embraces prairie, pine hill, pine flat, coast marsh, and 
a little alluvial and wooded swamp land. 

It is drained by Bayous Xezpique and the Sabine, Mermentau, and 
Calcasieu River, with its many tributary streams. Water is plentiful and 
of good quality. 

The Southern Faciflc, the St. Louis, Watkins and G-ulf, and the Kansas 
City Southern Railroads traverse the parish. Lake Charles, situated on 
Lake Charles, is the parish seat. 

The crop productions are principally rice and sugar, corn, cotton, 
sweet and Irish potatoes, peas, hay and oats; garden crops are also 
raised. 

The fruits and nuts are the orange, grape, peach, pear, plum, pecan, 
guava, pomegranate, prune and fig. 

The timber is pine, oak, gum, elm, sugarwood, cottonwood, willow, 
locust and persimmon. The lumber interests, long-leaf yeUow pine, are 
extensive, and millions are here invested. Live stock raising is a prof- 
itable industry, and sheep, cattle, hogs and horses are extensively raised. 
Game is found, such as deer, foxes, coons, rabbits, squirrels, snipe, beca- 
sine, partridges, rice birds, plovers, robins, wild ducks and geese, wood- 
cock, pheasants and papabotte. Fishing is good in the streams and 
lakes; bass, trout and carp are .found. 

Inexhaustive deposits of sulphur are found, and gypsum exists in 
great quantities. Petroleum oil of a high grade has been found in pay- 
ing quantities. 

CALDWELL PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the north central part of the State, and 
contains 348,800 acres of land. Its formation is alluvial, pine hills and 
good uplands. Its physical outline or topographic features are very 
rugged and broken in the upland portions of the parish, but the soil is 
fertile and productive. 

It is drained by the Ouachita and Boeuf Rivers, and Bayous Castor, 
Lafourche and Marengo. 

The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway runs through 
the parish north and south. Columbia, situated on the Ouachita River, 
is the parish seat. Water is. plentiful and of good quality. The timber 
consists of pine, oak, ash, beech, hickory, cottonwood, gum, elm, poplar, 
magnolia, locust, holly, maple, walnut, persimmon and willow. The 
principal crop is cotton; corn, oats, hay, peas, sweet and Irish potatoes, 
sorghum, sugar cane, tobacco and garden products are raised. 

Live stock are raised, consisting of cattle, hogs and sheep, in large 
quantity. Game abounds, such as deer, foxes, coons, oppossums, squir- 
rels, rabbits, wild turkeys, partridges, wild ducks, geese and woodcocks. 



105 




106 



Fish are plentiful in the streams and bayous, where bass, bar flsh and 
trout are found. 

There are deposits of chalk, kaolin, fire clay, potters' clay, iron and 
marl in the parish. 

CAMERON PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southwestern corner of the State, and 
contains 99S.400 acres of land. The formation is largely coast marsh, 
with some prairie and alluvial land, the soil being extremely rich and 
highly productive. It is drained in part by the Mermentau, Calcasieu 
and Sabine Rivers. Lakes Sabine, Grand and Calcasieu lie in its con- 
fines. 

The Kansas City, Watkins & Gulf Railroad passes through the parish. 
Cameron, situated at the mouth of Calcasieu Pass, is the parish seat. 

Cistern water is chiefly used. The timber is cypress, oak and willow. 
The fruits are orange, lemon, olive, fig, grape, banana, guava, prune, plum 
and mandarin. 

The crop productions are rice and sugar, while garden truck succeeds 
well. 

Game, such as wild duck and geese, becasine, jack snipe, papabot and 
rice birds are abundant. Fishing is extensive and excellent; Sheeps- 
head, red fish, pompano, salt water trout, Spanish mackerel, carp, shrimp 
and crabs abound, and the oyster and diamond-back terrapin exist in 
extensive quantities. 

CATAHOULA PARISH. 

This parish is situated near the central part of the State, and con- 
tained 864,000 acres of land before LaSalle was taken off. The formation 
is pine hills, wooded swamp, alluvial land, good upland and bluff land; 
the alluvial lands being very rich and productive, and the good uplands 
and bluff lands being of a superior quality and very fertile. The parish 
is drained by the Ouachita, Tensas, Black and Little Rivers, Bayous 
Louis, Saline and Castor, and Gastons, Fords, Brushley, Hemp Hill and 
Funny Louis Creeks. The New Orleans and Northwestern Railroad 
passes through the eastern portion of the parish, and the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain and Southern Railroad through its northwestern corner. 
Harrisonburg, situated on the Ouachita River, is the parish seat. The 
water supply throughout the parish is abundant, and generally of good 
quality. There are valuable mineral waters at the White Sulphur 
Springs, the Castor Springs, Gaston's Creek, Harrisonburg and other 
points, of very superior qualities. There are deposits of kaolin, bauxite, 
limestone, grindstone, Ouachita limestone, flintstone, potters' clay, lig- 
nite, marl, green sand and iron. 

The timber is very extensive and various, with pine in the lead; the 
other varieties being oak, cypress, ash, cottonwood, willow, maple, gum, 
elm, hickory, locust, mulberry, sassafras, maple, walnut, poplar, syca- 
more, holly, beech, magnolia and persimmon. 

The fruits and nuts are peaches, pears, pecans, apples, plums, grapes, 
figs and quinces. The wild mahaw grows, abundantly throughout the 
western portion of the parish, and this fruit has no superior, and, in 
fact, no equal, for jellying purposes, having a peculiar and delicate 



107 

flavor possessed by no other fruit. A factory for preserving this fruit 
(which is allowed to waste and rot), in the form of jellies, would be a 
very paying investment. The bluff lands of Sicily Island are of superior 
quality. The chief crop product is cotton, while corn, oats, hay, sweet 
and Irish potatoes, tobacco, sorghum and sugar cane yield abundantly. 
The live stock are hogs, sheep and horses; a large industry being devel- 
oped in raising hogs for shipment. 

Game is found, such as deer, bear, foxes, coons, oppossum, squirrels, 
rabbits, wild turkeys, wild ducks and geese, partridges, robins, rice 
birds and woodcock. Fish are plentiful in the creeks, bayous and lakes; 
among them are found trout, <bass, bar fish and white perch. 

CLAIBORNE PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northwestern part of the State, and 
contains 497,920 acres of land. The formation is good uplands, red 
sandy clays, the soil being fertile and productive. It is drained by the 
headwaters of Bayou D'Arbonne and numerous small streams. 

Homer, situated near the center, is the parish seat, and is on the line 
of the Louisiana and Northwestern Railroad. This railroad runs through 
the parish north and south, and has direct connections with the Cotton 
Belt, the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific, the Louisiana Railway and 
Navigation Company, and the Texas and Pacific railroads. Water is 
plentiful and of excellent quality. 

Cotton is the chief product; corn, oats, hay, peas, sweet and Irish 
potatoes, tobacco, hemp, wheat, buckwheat, sugar-cane and sorghum 
all yield good crops. 

The fruits and nuts are peaches, apples, pears, plums, pecans, quinces, 
pomegranates and grapes. The soil and climate of this parish have been 
found especially adapted to peach growing, the fruit being very highly 
esteemed on the market for both its size and flavor. 

The timber is oak, pine, poplar, hickory, beech, holly, elm, walnut, 
maple and locust. Live stock raised here are cattle, sheep, hogs and 
horses. Game is found, such as deer, coons, opossums, foxes, squirrels, 
rabbits, wild turkeys, partridges, woodcock and robins. 

The streams are mostly small, but fine varieties of fish are found in 
their waters, among them trout, bar fish, perch, and blue and spotted cat. 
Deposits of marl, green sand, potters' clay, fire clay, iron and lignite 
are found. 

CONCORDIA PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the east central part of the State, contains 
425,000 acres of land. Its formation is alluvial land and wooded swamp; 
soil highly fertile and productive. It is drained by the Mississippi, 
Tensas, Black and Red Rivers. 

Vidalia, on the Mississippi River, is the parish seat. 

The New Orleans and Northwestern Railroad runs through the north- 
eastern part of the parish, and there is also a line extending from Con- 
cordia Station to Trinity, on the Tensas River. 

The timber is oak, cypress, ash, gum, elm, Cottonwood, hackberry, 
persimmon and willow. The chief crop product is cotton, corn, rice, hay, 
oats, sweet and Irish potatoes, peas, sorghum, sugar cane and tobacco 
are raised. Live stock raised are chiefly cattle and hogs. 



108 



The fruits and nuts are pears, peaches, pecans, grapes, figs, apples 
and plums. Game abounds, such as deer, bear, coons, opossums, squir- 
rels, rabbits, wild turkeys, wild ducks and geese, partridges and wood- 
cock, also rice birds. Fish are plentiful in the lakes and rivers, among 
which are bass, blue cat, white perch and pike. 

DE SOTO PARISH. 

The Parish of De Soto is situated in the northwest part of the State, 
and contains 547,840 acres of land. The formation is chiefly good up- 
lands, with a little alluvial land along the Sabine River and Bayou 
Pierre. It is drained by these two streams and their numerous small 
affluents. The soil is of good quality, fertile and productive. 

The Texas and Pacific Railroad and the Shreveport and Houston, 
Kansas City Southern Railroads extend through the parish. Mansfield, 
situated near the center, is the parish seat. It is on the Kansas City 
Southern Railroad, and has a short tap line connecting it with the Texas 
and Pacific Railroad. Water is abundant and of good quality. 

The chief product is cotton; corn, hay, oats, sweet and Irish potatoes, 
peas, sorghum, tobacco and sugar cane all thrive well. The fruits are 
peaches, pears, apples, plums, figs, pomegranates, quinces and grapes. 

The timber is chiefly pine, oak, poplar, beech, holly, gum,' magnolia, 
elm, maple, locust, mulberry, hickory, and some walnut is found. 

Game, such as deer, coons, opossums, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, wild 
turkeys, partridges, wild ducks, wild geese, woodcock and rice birds are 
found. Fish of various kinds abound in the streams and lakes. Live 
stock raised are cattle, hogs, sheep, and some horses'. Deposits of pot- 
ters' clay, fire clay, kaolin, iron, marl and green sand are found; also 
extensive beds of lignite, producing a high grade coal. The commercial 
value of these beds has only been recently demonstrated, and in the 
opinion of experts the quality and extent of the deposits promise to make 
this industry quite an important factor in the development of north 
Louisiana. 

Among her great assets of today are the gas and oil wells. 

EAST BATON ROUGE. 

The Parish of East Baton Rouge, area 272,000 acres, fronts on the 
Mississippi River, 130 miles above New Orleans. 

The city of Baton Rouge, eighty miles from New Orleans by rail, is 
the parish seat and the capital of the State, and is built on the extreme 
southern point of bluff land that touches the Mississippi River. 

The lands along the Mississippi River south of Baton Rouge are allu- 
vial, of which about one-third are in cultivation, the remainder being 
•pasturage and woodland. The timber found here is principally cypress, 
gum, oak, and many small varieties of trees. The other portion, about 
nine-tenths, of the parish, called the highlands or bluff, is not subject 
to inundation by the Mississippi River. The forest growth is of great 
variety, comprising all kinds of oak, gum, magnolia, poplar and beech, in - 
terspersed with much undergrowth. The soil is as various as the forest; 
growth, ranging from poor to very fertile; but under the energetic ma- 
nipulation of the progressive farmer will yield a rich reward to the 
husbandman. 



109 




110 



Upon these lands all the staple crops are cultivated successfully, viz.: 
cotton, cane, corn, potatoes, truck products, fruits, etc. The city of 
Baton Rouge affords an excellent distributing point for the products of 
the parish to the principal markets of New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago 
and western cities. 

There are many small streams passing through and bordering on 
the parish, which afford sufficient drainage to all its lands. They are the 
Amite, Comite, Manchac, Bayou Fountain, Ward's Creek, Montecino, 
White's Bayou, Redwood, Blackwater, Sandy Creek, and many other 
minor water courses. In these streams are to be found many kinds of 
fish and water fowl. 

The health of East Baton Rouge Parish has always been good, that 
of the city of Baton Rouge being 12 per 1000. The military post, for- 
merly located at Baton Rouge, showed the best health record of any post 
in the Southwest. The thermometer rarely rises above 90 degrees, 
or falls below 20 degrees F., and when either extreme is reached, it lasts 
but a few days. The leading nationalities of the world are represented 
in the population, the English, French and German languages being 
spoken principally. Educational facilities are very good. The State 
University and Agricultural and Mechanical College is located at Baton 
Rouge. There is also a Catholic convent for girls, a Catholic college for 
boys, and several other private schools. Public schools are in a progres- 
sive condition. In addition to this, there are two institutions that de- 
serve notice, viz.: the Institute for the Blind and the Institution for the 
Deaf and Dumb. The State Penitentiary is also located in Baton Rouge. 
The facilities for reaching market with manufactured and agricultural 
products are unsurpassed. The parish lies for nearly forty miles upon 
the Mississippi River, affording daily communication with New Or- 
leans and the western cities. The Texas and Pacific, Frisco, Southern 
Pacific and L. R. & N. Co. give connections with all points to west and 
southwest. The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley, Frisco, Illinois Central, 
via the Baton Rouge, Hammond and Eastern, and the Louisiana Railway 
and Navigation Company give connections to all points east of the Mis- 
sissippi River. 

Since the advent of the boll weevil the agricultural conditions of the 
parish are changing rapidly. The raising of cotton has not been aban- 
doned, but carried on under intensified cultivation. Stock and diversified 
crops and dairying are proving very profitable. Figs and pecans are 
being extensively planted. Flowing artesian wells, with water 99 per 
cent pure, are numerous throughout the parish. Springs of valuable 
medicinal properties are located here. This parish, with its wonder- 
ful agricultural resources, its parish seat being a port of entry and a 
railroad center, capital of the State, with the largest southern oil refinery 
for supplying oil for fuel for manufacturing its raw material, and the 
good roads campaign being waged, has the prospects of a very bright 
and prosperous future. 



Ill 





!*& 



AN UP-TO-DATE DAIRY. 



EAST CARROLL PARISH. 

East Carroll is the extreme northeastern parish of Louisiana, bounded 
by the Mississippi River on the east and extending west to Bayou Mason, 
which divides it from the Parish of West Carroll. It contains 238,436 
acres of land, about 60,000 of which are open and in cultivation and pas- 
turage, and the remainder in timber land. Other things than cotton are 
produced in East Carroll. Corn, hay, oats and fruits and vegetables of 
all kinds can be grown abundantly and most profitably. Pice is be- 
coming one of the leading crops. Sweet and Irish potatoes yield hand- 
some profits and are marketed in time to admit of a crop of cotton being 
grown on the same land. Tomatoes, cabbages, peanuts, peas, beans, car- 
rots, melons, strawberries, radishes, etc., are also successfully grown. 
All kinds of fruit do well, but the best success has been made in apples, 
peaches, figs and persimmons. The pecan is indiginous. In the truck 
industry yields of from $75 to $1,000 per acre have been made every year, 
and, as the profit on truck is usually 35 to 55 per cent, it can be seen 
that there is good money in the business. Stock can be kept through 
the winter without scarcely any feeding. Cases are on record of stock 
being marketed at top prices which never received a mouthful of food 
other than that which grows wild. In fact, it has been demonstrated 
that here on the rich natural grasses can be produced larger and stronger 
horses in the same length of time than can be done on the famous Ken- 
tucky blue grass. 

In cattle, hogs, sheep and goats the improvement is marked. The 
time was when only the most common kinds of chickens, turkeys, ducks 



112 



and geese could be found. Now, no matter which way one goes, there 
will be seen the best strains, and the best of their kind, on the farms 
and plantations, as well as in the homes of the townspeople. 

You will find good schools and churches all over the parish. And last, 
but not least, you will find a hospitable class of neighbors who will 
welcome you with open arms. 

The great Mississippi, the "Father of Waters." and the Memphis, 
Helena and Louisiana Railroad, a branch of the Gould system, afford 
easy and quick access to the markets of the world for all products ^nd 
insure cheap competitive freight rates. 

Large portions of East Carroll are heavily timbered, much of it cy- 
press, white, red and black oak, ash, white and red gum, sycamore, hickory, 
locust and Cottonwood are plentiful in the virgin state. The parish is 
also well watered, there being many bayous and lakes. 

Fish and game abound in great quantities. Bass and other varieties 
of game fish furnish excellent sport for the angler, and the huntsman 
finds plenty of birds, ducks, geese, turkeys, squirrels, opossums, deer 
and bear. 

EAST FELICIANA PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and 
contains 298,240 acres of land. The formation is good upland, bluff and 
pine hills; the soil being very fertile and productive. It is drained by 
the Comite and Amite Rivers, Pretty Creek, Redwood, Thompson's, 
Beaver, Sandy and Black Creeks. The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley 
Railroad extends through the parish, having branch lines from Slaughter 
to Woodville, Mississippi; from Ethel to Clinton, the parish seat, 
and there is also a short private railroad line from McManus to 
Jackson, a town of 2,012 inhabitants, where the State Insane Asylum is 
located. The Louisiana Railway & Navigation Company's line passes 
through the lower part of the parish at Port Hudson, on to Alexandria, 
Shreveport, etc. Water throughout the parish is abundant, and of excel- 
lent quality. The chief crop product is cotton, while corn, oats, hay, peas, 
sweet and Irish potatoes, sorghum, sugar cane, tobacco, and the garden 
varieties thrive exceedingly well. The fruits and nuts are apples, pears, 
peaches, pecans, figs, plums, quinces, pomegranates, grapes and the 
smaller varieties. 

Game is plentiful, such as coons, opossums, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, 
beavers, mink, wild turkeys, wild ducks, woodcocks, partridges, jack 
snipe, robins and rice birds. Fish of good quality abound in the 
streams; trout, bass, bar fish, perch, and blue and speckled cat are 
found. The live stock industry is successfully conducted and numbers of 
fine blooded cattle, horses and jacks are bred, while sheep and hogs 
thrive remarkably well. Since the advent of the boll weevil stock rais- 
ing and dairying has been largely increased and corn, peanuts and other 
feed crops have about doubled the former yields. 

The timber is oak, beech, pine, gum, elm, poplar, hickory, $nagnolia, 
holly, cottonwood, willow, cypress, walnut and sycamore. 



113 




OLD-TIME SUGAR PLANTATION HOME. 



EVANGELINE PARISH. 

One of the south-central parishes of the State containing 504,620 acres, 
most of which is in cultivation. Corn, cotton, rice and sugar cane are 
the principal products. Cattle, hogs and sheep are much thought of. 
Lumber is quite an industry. Hardwoods, long-leaf pine, etc. Peaches, 
pears and figs do well. Satsuma oranges are being planted and expe- 
riments in them justify the hope that they will soon be one of the great 
fruits of the parish. Game, such as quail, papabot and snipe abound, 
and some wild turkeys and deer. Fishing good, such as trout and saca- 
lait. Schools up to date. High schools with agricultural and domestic 
science additions. Churches, both Catholic and Protestant, are in the 
parish. Ville Platte is the principal town, and is becoming a great 
shipping point for poultry and eggs. Banks are sufficient, and orders 
like the F. and A. M., W. O. W. and K. C. Good gravel roads and good 
bridges are provided for in a tbree-mill tax and also a per capita tax. 

FRANKLIN PARISH. 

Franklin Parish is situated in the northeastern part of the State, and 
contains 392,960 acres of land. 

The formation is chiefly bluff land, with some alluvial land, wooded 
swamp and a little of prairie. The soil is very fertile and productive. 
It is drained by Boeuf River, Bayou Macon, Turkey and Deer Creeks, 
and Turkey Lake. 

The New Orleans and Northwestern Railroad passes through the 
parish. 

Winnsboro, situated on Turkey Creek, is the parish seat. Water 
is plentiful and fairly good. Cotton is the chief crop for export; corn, 
oats, hay, sugar cane, sweet and Irish potatoes, peas and sorghum are 
produced. The fruits and nuts are peaches, pears, pecans, apples, 
plums, quinces, grapes, figs and pomegranates. The timber is oak, pine, 
gum, elm, beech, holly, magnolia, hickory, poplar, Cottonwood, willow, 
mulberry, maple, ash, and walnut. 



114 



The live stock are cattle, hogs, sheep and horses, of which large 
numbers are raised. 

Game abounds, such as deer, bear, foxes, coons, opossums, beavers, 
mink, squirrels, rabbits, wild turkeys, wild ducks and geese, partridges, 
snipe, woodcock and rice birds. 

Varieties of fish abound in the streams and lakes, among which are 
trout, bass, white perch and pike. 

GRANT PARISH. 

This parish is situated near the center of the State, and contains 
407,040 acres of land. The formation is pine hills, with some- alluvial 
land bordering Red River. It is drained by Red and Little Rivers, Bayou 
Jatt, the Rigolet du Bon Dieu, and smaller streams. 

Colfax, on the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company's line, is 
the parish seat. 

The chief product is cotton, while corn, oats, hay, sugar cane, sweet 
and Irish potatoes, sorghum, tobacco, and peas are raised. The fruits 
and nuts are peaches, plums, apples, pears, pecans, grapes, figs, pome- 
granates and quinces. The timber is long-leaf pine, oak, gum, cotton- 
wood, willow, elm, hickory, and sycamore, with some magnolia and 
poplar. Live stock are raised, such as cattle, sheep, hogs and horses. 

Game is found, consisting of deer, foxes, coons, opossums, squirrels, 
rabbits, mink, wild turkeys, wild ducks and geese, woodcock, partridges 
and rice birds. Fish are found in the streams and lakes, the choice 
varieties of which are trout, bass, pike and white perch. 

Deposits of marble, limestone, kaolin, marl, lignite, fire clay, potters' 
clay, iron, and gypsum exist. 

IBERIA PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southern part of the State, and con- 
tains 426,880 acres. The formation is prairie, coast marsh, alluvial land, 
wooded swamp and bluff land; the soil 'being very rich and highly pro- 
ductive. It is drained by Bayous Teche, Petit Anse and Coulee du 
Portage. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad, with branch lines, extends through 
the parish. New Iberia, situated on Bayou Teche, is the parish seat. 
Water is good, cistern water being chiefly used. 

The general crop production is sugar; rice, corn, oats, hay, peas, 
sweet- and Irish potatoes and garden varieties are all grown extensively, 
and are very profitable. 

The fruits and nuts are the orange, lemon, mandarin, fig, pomegran- 
ate, guava, olive, plum, pear, pecan, grape, banana, peach and prune. 
The timber is composed of cypress, oak, gum, elm, cottonwood, willow, 
sugarwood and sycamore. 

Live stock raised are horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. Game exists, 
such as deer, coons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, wild ducks, wild geese, 
woodcock, papabots, becasine, partridges, rice birds, snipe and pheasants. 
Fish abounds in the streams, lakes and inlets, among which are red fish, 
pompano, salt water trout, crabs, trout, bass and sacalait; oysters and 
terrapin are found in the brackish waters of the coast marsh. 

The great salt works of Louisiana are located in this parish. 



115 




116 

IBERVILLE PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the south central part of the State, and 
contains 413,440 acres of land. The formation is wooded swamp and 
alluvial land, the soil of which is extremely rich and productive. It is 
drained by the Mississippi River — which passes through the eastern 
portion of the parish — and by Grand .River, Bayou Goula, Plaquemine, 
Maringouin, Grosse Tete, Manchac, and numerous other streams. 

The Texas and Pacific Railroad passes through the parish on the 
western bank of the Mississippi River, and the Yazoo and Mississippi 
Valley Railroad, the Frisco and the Louisiana Railway and Navigation 
Company through the eastern portion. Plaquemine, situated on the 
western bank of the Missisippi River, on the main line of the Texas and 
Pacific Railroad, is the parish seat. The famous Plaquemine locks, at 
the mouth of Bayou Plaquemine, are located here; they were built by 
the United States Government, and it is one of the largest pieces of 
masonry ever constructed in this country. 

Water is plentiful and good, cistern water being chiefly used. Sugar 
is the chief crop production, and corn, hay, oats, rice, beans, sweet and 
Irish potatoes and the garden varieties are extensively raised. The 
fruits and nuts are pears, peaches, figs, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, 
mandarins, plums, prunes, pecans and grapes. Live stock are cattle, 
sheep, hogs and horses. The game found are deer, bear, coons, opos- 
sums, mink, squirrels, rabbits, wild ducks and geese, snipe, becasine, 
partridges and rice birds. Fish are found in the streams, such as bass, 
pike, white perch and common varieties. 

JACKSON PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the north-central part of the State, and con- 
tains 36S.280 acres of land. The formation is good upland and pine 
hills, red sandy clays; soil generally good and fertile. It is drained by 
the tributaries of Dugdemona River and Bayou Castor. Water is abund- 
ant and good. 

The Arkansas Southern Railroad runs through the parish from north 
to south. 

Vernon, situated in the northern part of the parish, is the parish seat. 
There are many springs, branches and creeks. 

Cotton is the chief crop produced for export; corn, hay, oats, sor- 
ghum, sweet and Irish potatoes, peas, sugar cane, wheat, rye and Dar- 
ley are also raised. The fruits are peaches, apples, pears, quinces, 
plums, pomegranates and grapes. Cattle, hogs, sheep and horses are 
raised in great numbers. 

Game is found, such as deer, coons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, foxes, 
wild turkeys, partridges and woodcock. Fish of good quality of the 
smaller varieties are found in streams. 

The timber consists of pine, oak, beech, hickory, walnut, elm and 
maple. Extensive areas of long-leaf pine are in this parish. 

JEFFERSON PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and is 
divided by the Mississippi River, which passes its northern portion. It 
contains 385,920 acres, the formation being composed largely of coast 



117 



marsh, while it has a large area of alluvial land and some wooded 
swamp. The soil is exceedingly rich and productive. It is drained by the 
Mississippi Paver, Lake Pontchartrain and Bayous Barataria, Rigolet, 
Des Families or Dauphine, St. Denis, Dupont and Grand Bayou. 

The Texas and Pacific, Southern Pacific, Gulf and Grand Isle, Illinois 
Central, Yazoo and Mississippi Valley, Frisco and L. R. & N. railroads 
pass through the parish. 

Gretna, situated on the Mississippi Paver, is the parish seat. Water 
is good, cistern water being chiefly used. 

Sugar is the principal crop produced, although rice, corn, Irish pota- 
toes, onions and garden truck of all kinds are extensively grown, and 
shipped to northern markets. 

The fruits and nuts are oranges, lemons, -mandarins, fijs, pomegran- 
ates, plums, prunes, pecans, guavas, olives, bananas and grape.-. Cat- 
tle and hogs are raised. 

Game is found, consisting of snipe, becasine, papabots, wild ducks and 
geese, and rice birds and coons, rabbits and opossums. 

The timber is limited to cypress, oak, elm and willow. 

Fish abound, and the oyster industry of this parish is the most exten- 
sive, and superior, along the Gulf Coast. Terrapin, oysters, crabs, and 
the varieties of Gulf fish are taken in large number in the inlets, bayous 
and lakes. 

JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH. 

One of the new southwestern parishes. Contains 390,961 acres. The 
agricultural products are rice, corn, cotton, sugar cane, oats, hay. Fruits 
are figs, grapefruit, satsuma oranges, pears and grapes. Stock, backed 
by dipping vats and silos in all directions, with pretty good winter 
grazing, is developing rapidly. Hogs and sheep do well. Good roads 
sentiment prevailing; 106' miles of hard surface roads in the next year. 
New $90,000 courthouse. Fine high school with domestic science and 
manual training included. Thirty-four white schools and six for negroes 
in the parish. Both Catholic and Protestant churches. 

Oil and Gas.— Output of the former about the same for the last 
twelve years. 

LAFAYETTE PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southern part of the State, and contains 
152,960 acres of land, in area it being the third smallest parish in the 
State. Its formation is chiefly prairie, with considerable alluvial and 
bluff land. The soil is very fertile and productive. It is drained by 
Bayous Carencro and Tortue and Vermilion River. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad extends through the parish, having 
a connecting line from Lafayette to Cheneyville, in Rapides parish, and 
also a line to Baton Rouge. Lafayette, situated on the Southern Pacific 
Railroad, is the parish seat, and is the home of the Southwestern Indus- 
trial Institute. It is only a few miles from the Anse La Butte oil field, 
which lies almost on the line of Lafayette and St. Martin parishes. 

Water is abundant, and of good quality. Rice and sugar are the chief 
productions, and corn, cotton, oats, sweet and Irish potatoes, peas and 
hay, are extensively raised; also alfalfa is meeting with some success. 



118 




AN ORDINARY MORTGAGE-LIFTER. 

The fruits and nuts are the orange, pear, grape, plum, peach and 
pecan. Cattle, sheep, hogs and horses are raised extensively. Game, 
such as snipe, becasine, plover, wild ducks, partridges, pheasants and 
rice birds are found. Some fish are taken from the streams of the par- 
ish. The timber is oak, willow, Cottonwood, elm, some cypress, sugar- 
wood, gum and sycamore. 

Lafayette has a sugar refinery costing $350,000. Some large lumber 
companies, cotton seed oil mill, a compress and storage plant and other 
manufacturing interests are also flourishing there. 



LAFOURCHE PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southern part of the State, and con- 
tains 655,260 acres of land. The formation is alluvial land, wooded 
swamp and coast marsh. Soil exceedingly rich and productive. It is 
drained by Bayous Lafourche, Des Allemands and Grand Bayou. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad passes through the northern portion 
of the parish, and the Texas and Pacific runs from Thibodaux north. 
Thibodaux, situated on Bayou Lafourche, is the parish seat, and is a 
thrifty, progressive little city, with electric lights, waterworks, found- 
ries, canning factory and many other industries. Water is good, cistern 
water being generally used. Sugar is the chief product, and rice, corn, 
hay, oats, peas, jute and garden truck are grown and shipped. 

The fruits and nuts are oranges, lemons, mandarins, plums, guavas, 
olives, figs, pears, grapes, peaches, pecans and bananas. The live stock 
raised here are mostly cattle and hogs. Game is found, such as snipe, 
becasine, wild ducks and geese, deer, rice birds, papabots, squirrels, opos- 
sums, coons and rabbits. Fishing is very good and oysters, crabs, terra- 
pin and the Gulf fish are found in waters of the coast marsh. The tim- 
ber is cypress, oak, cottonwood, gum, elm and willow. 



119 



LASALLE PARISH. 

One of the central parishes of the State. Altitude, about 300 feet 
above sea level, except small area along- upper portion of Little River. 
Soil, light sandy, with red clay subsoil. Productive and will retain fer- 
tilizer. Area, 666, 7S0 acres. Population, 10,000. Chief industry, lumber 
production. Six mills produce, daily, 600,000 feet, and employ 2300 men. 
There are two good railroad systems in the parish. Agriculture and 
stock raising will be the chief industry in a few years, as the timber 
is not sufficient to run the mills more than six or eight years. 

The present acreage in agricultural crops is about 6,000, consisting of 
cotton, corn, sugar cane, potatoes, oats, truck farming, with corn pre- 
dominating. Poultry and fruit do well here. 

Jena, the parish seat, a town with paved streets and electric lights, 
has one of the best courthouses and one of the most modern three-story 
brick high school 'buildings. 

White Sulphur Springs is a summer resort, where fishing is usually 
good. 

The school system is considered progressive and efficient. There are 
two high schools, one agricultural school, three domestic science schools 
and a sufficient number of smaller schools to provide for the elementary 
education of the children. 

Urania has a national preserve for elk. There are six young already 
this year. 

Model roads are being built throughout the parish. 

There are many automobiles in this parish, the number comparing 
favorably with any similar parish in the State. Daily mail, rural routes 
and telephones are to be found in almost all parts of the parish. 

In the central and southern portions of the parish the small streams 
furnish an abundance of pure water. Game, such as ducks in season, 
squirrels, quails and some few deer and turkeys. 

LINCOLN PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northern part of the State, and con- 
tains 368,000 acres of land. The formation is good upland, red sandy 
clay, the soil being fertile and Droductive. It is drained by Bayou 
D'Arbonne and smaller streams. Many chalybeate springs, creeks and 
branches abound. 

The Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad passes through the 
parish. Ruston, situated on this line, is the parish seat. It is a thriving, 
progressive little city. Here is situated the State Industrial Institute for 
both sexes. Over 600 pupils are now in attendance. Tuition free. Here 
is also located the Louisiana Chautauqua. Ruston has a cotton com- 
press, cotton oil mill, ice factory, fertilizer factory and electric light 
plant. Water is sufficient, and of good quality, from cool springs and 
wells. 

The chief product is cotton; corn, oats, hay, peanuts, sorghum, 
grasses, wheat, sugar cane, tobacco, sweet and Irish potatoes and peas 
being also extensively raised. The fruits and nuts are peaches, pears, 
plums, pecans, apples, quinces, grapes, and all do well. Cattle, hogs, 
sheep, horses and mules are raised on farms. 



120 



Game is found, consisting of deer, coons, foxes, opossums, squirrels, 
rabbits, wild turkeys, wild ducks, woodcock, partridges and robins. 
Deposits of marl, potters' clay, fire clay and lignite are found. The 
timber is pine, oak, poplar, hickory , beech, maple, gum. elm, walnut and 

persimmon. 

LIVINGSTON PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and con 
tains 379,520 acres of land. The formation is bluff land, pine flats, allu- 
vial land and wooded swamps; the soil being generally fertile and pro- 
ductive, some of which is exceedingly rich. It is drained by the Amite 
and Tickfaw Rivers and Colyell Creek and their branches. Water is 
abundant and of good quality. Springfield, on the Tickfaw River, is the 
parish seat. 

Cotton is the chief product; corn, hay, oats, sorghum, susar cane, 
sweet and Irish potatoes, peas, tobacco and rice are raised. The fruits 
and nuts are peaches, plums, pears, pecans, apples, grapes, figs, pome- 
granates and quinces. Cattle, sheep, hogs and horses are raised. 

The timber is pine, oak, beech, magnolia, ash, holly, gum, hickory, 
poplar, persimmon and cypress. 

Game is abundant, such as deer, coons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, 
wild turkeys, wild ducks, partridges, woodcocks, and robins. Fish are 
found in the rivers and streams, such as trout, bass, channel catfish and 
perch. 




HOGS RUNNING AT LARGE. 



121 

MADISON PARISH. 

Madison Parish is situated in the northeast portion of the State, East 
Carroll being- the intervening parish between it and the State of Arkan- 
sas. The acreage of the parish is placed by the assessor at 397,605 acres. 
The land is all alluvial, composed of loam and buckshot. It is fertile 
beyond belief, producing nearly all kinds of crops; especially cotton, 
rice, corn and truck. The principal streams are the Tensas River, Bayou 
Macon, Roundaway and its connections known as Walnut and Brushy, 
Willow Bayou, Little Tensas, Bayou Vidal, etc. Its lakes are Bear Lake, 
One Eagle Lake, Grassy Lake, Swan Lake, etc. There are two railways 
which run severally east and west and north and south, to- wit: the 
Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway and the Memphis, Helena and 
Louisiana Railroad. There is only one incorporated municipality in the 
parish, the village of Tallulah. Within its limits there is a hoop and 
stave factory, a cotton oil mill and an ice plant, besides a public gin- 
nery. There is one bank. There are two churches for whites — the M. K. 
C. S. and the Episcopal. Several negro churches of the Methodist and 
Baptist faiths. There is one high school building in Tallulah, besides 
lesser school -buildings in the parish. Nearly all kinds of crops can be 
grown, including fruits of all varieties and pecans. Attention has been 
given since the advent of the boll weevil to raising stock of all kinds, 
including hogs, etc., and this departure has 'become almost universal. 
Pish of all varieties abound in our lakes. Bear Lake is a noted resort 
for the sport, where a clubhouse is located. The timber lands are very 
valuable and little of it has been cut. This consists of all varieties of 
oak, pecan, willow, cottonwood, gum, hackberry, elm, some cypress, but 
no pine. The game is also quite plentiful, consisting of deer, bear, 
squirrel, wild cats, opossoms. The price of land varies according to its 
location near line of communication. 

There are two other villages, Millikens Bend and Delta. 

MOREHOUSE PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northeastern part of the State, and 
contains 486,400 acres of land. 

The formation is alluvial land, good upland and wooded swamp; soil 
rich and productive. It is drained by the Ouachita and Boeuf Rivers 
and Bayous Bonne Idee, Bartholomew and Gallion. Water is abundant 
and of good quality. The Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad 
passes through the extreme southern point; the Iron Mountain Rail- 
road passes through the parish, north and south, while the New Orleans 
and Northwestern Railroad passes through from southeast to northwest. 

Bastrop is the parish seat, located on the uplands. Cotton is the prin- 
cipal crop production for export; corn, oats, hay, tobacco, sweet and 
Irish potatoes, peas, sorghum and sugar cane are also raised. The 
fruits and nuts are peaches, pears, pecans, apples, plums, quinces, and 
grapes. The timber is oak, pine, cottonwood, gum, elm, cypress, poplar, 
hickory, holly, beech, magnolia, willow and persimmon. Live stock, 
such as cattle, hogs, sheep and some horses are raised. 

Game is found, consisting of deer, coons, foxes, opossums, squirrels, 
rabbits, wild turkeys, wild ducks, woodcock, snipe, robins, partridges 
and rice birds. Fish of good quality are found in the streams. 



122 



NATCHITOCHES PARISH. 

Natchitoches Parish is situated in the west-central part of the State, 
and contains 825,600 'acres of land. The formation is alluvial land, good 
upland and pine flats; soil generally good, and very productive. It is 
drained by the Red and Cane Rivers, and Bayous Saline, Pierre and 
Natchez and the Rigolet Du Bon Dieu. Water is abundant and of good 
quality. 

The main line of the Texas and Pacific Railroad runs through the 
parish, with branch line to the Red River through the town of Natch- 
itoches; this town is also the terminus of the Louisiana and North- 
western Railroad, and has a branch line of the Louisiana Railway and 
Navigation Company. It is the parish seat and a thrifty, progressive 
town. Here is located the State Normal School, with over 700 students. 

Cotton is the chief crop raised lor export, while corn, oats, tobacco, 
hay, peas, sorghum, sugar cane and sweet and Irish potatoes are pro- 
duced. The Natchitoches tobacco enjoys a world-wide reputation. 

The fruits are peaches, pears, apples, plums, quinces, pomegranates, 
figs and grapes. The timber is pine, oak, gum, cottonwood, elm, willow, 
cypress, holly, magnolia, hickory, walnut, poplar, maple, and persimmon. 
Cattle, sheep, hogs and horses are raised. 

Game, such as deer, coons, foxes, opossums, rabbits, squirrels, wild 
turkeys and ducks, woodcock, partridges and rice birds, is found. Fish 
of good quality are found in the streams. Deposits of lignite, marl, 
marble, limestone, kaolin, iron, fire rlav and potters' clav exist. Truf- 
fles are also found in this parish. 




A GOOD CATCH NEAR NEW ORLEANS— 150 POUNDS 
SPANISH MACKEREL IN TWO HOURS. 



123 



ORLEANS parish. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and 
contains 127,3fi0 acres, it being: the smallest parish in area in the State. 
The formation is alluvial land, coast marshes and wooded swamu. It is 
drained by the MississipDi River. Lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne, and 
Bayous St. John and Gentilly. Most of the railroads of the State con- 
verge here in the City of New Orleans, which is the parish seat. 

The chief eroDS grown are garden truck, an immense industry; and 
corn, sugar cane, rice, jute, sweet and Irish potatoes are raised. The 
fruits are the orange, lemon, mandarin, olive, prune, fig, pomegranate, 
pear, peach, and the smaller varieties. The timber is cypress, oak, gum, 
elm. hackberrv. cottonwood and willow. Some cattle, hogs and horses 
are raised here. Very little game is found, though, fishing is very good 
in the lakes and brackish waters, where oysters, crabs, terrapin, and the 
varieties of Gulf fish are taken. 

The city of New Orleans and the Parish of Orleans are practically 
one and the same thing, as the city now embraces within its limits all 
of the parish. 







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A PLANTATION HOME. 



OUACHITA PARISH 

Ouachita is in the second tier of parishes from the Arkansas line. 
It has about 398,720 acres of land. 

One of the most beautiful rivers, flowing southward, some quarter 
of a mile wide, now navigable some nine months of the vear. divides the 
parish, bears the name, and amply justifies its Indian meaning — "Silver- 
Water." The Ouachita practically never overflows within the parish. 



124 



The east side is level and alluvial, with a formation of rich, sandy loams. 
containing heavy growths of hardwood timber of the finest quality and 
great variety. The west side, heavily timbered with pine, and also hard- 
woods, consists of "second bottoms," and so-called "hill lands," generally 
sandy loams, with heavy clay foundations, productive, and very fertile 
in the valleys along the numerous streams. 

Numerous artesian wells, with abundant limpid waters, How here as 
freely as do the multitudinous natural streams, great and small, that 
a>~e tributary to "the Ouachita." 

Ouachita's principal towns are Monroe, the second oldest town in the 
State, and West Monroe, practically one, only the river divides them, 
but separately incorporated. Together they constitute a growing, flour- 
ishing and progressive modern city. The other towns of 'the parish are 
comparatively small — 'Calhoun, some fifteen miles west, and the seat of 
the North Louisiana Experiment Station being the next largest. 

Large capital is invested in cotton seed oil mills. Numerous saw- 
mills, stave factories, shingle factories, etc., work the wonderful growths 
of timber — oak, pine, cypress, hickory, ash, gum, etc. The best of brick 
are made by most modern methods, and concrete is largely used, made 
from the best of gravels and sands, locally obtained. 

Four large, strong banks in Monroe and one in West Monroe are all 
prosperous and growing. Many churches of all the usual Protestant 
denominations abound, and there is a large iCatholic church and a large 
synagogue in Monroe. The school system in the parish is of the best. 

Practically all kinds of crops and live stock produced on the North 
American continent can be successfully grown or raised here. It is an 
excellent fruit country, and the very land of the pecan and other nut- 




A NATURAL WARM -WATER BATHING POOL AT MON- 
ROE. SALT WATER FROM A DEEP WELL AND 
LIGHTED BY GAS FROM SAME WELL. 



125 



bearing trees. The walnut grows wild — the hickory abundant. Figs 
of the finest never fail. Stock raising is of great and growing import- 
ance. Game and fish are plentiful. 

This is, pre-eminently, a land of agriculture, and its great partners, 
live stock and poultry, fruits, nuts and vines. It is a great grass and 
hay land, and more and more attention is being given to "meadows." 

Concrete culverts, constructed from the pure sand gravels of the 
local deposit, are replacing all small bridges, and even some quite large 
ones, along the roads. 

Louisiana leads all the States in variety of food products, being 
unique in her combination of sugar, molasses, rice and tropical fruits; 
aiso in the amount produced ,per acre of the world's clothing maker — 
cotton. Also in the combination of variety, quality and quantity of 
standing timber; also in extent of navigable waterways. She leads the 
world in deposits of natural gas,, oil, salt and sulphur. She feeds, 
clothes, houses, lights and fuels, salts and fumigates "the children of 
men." Of these things, "Ouachita" does her full quota. 

PLAQUEMINES PARISH. 

This parish is located in the southeastern part of the State, and is 
divided by the Mississippi River, which passes through it. The forma- 
tion is alluvial land and coast marsh; the soil being exceedingly rich 
and productive. 

It is drained by the Mississippi River and Bayous Cheniere, Wilkin- 
son, Long, Terre au Bouef, Vacherie, Dupont and Grand Bayou. The 
Grand Isle and Gulf Railroad passes down the western coast of the Mis- 
sissippi, and the Mississippi, Terre au Boeuf and Lake Road down the 
eastern coast. 

Pointe-a-laHache, situated on the Mississippi River, is the parish 
seat. Cistern water is mostly used. The chief crop productions are 
sugar and rice; corn and truck varieties are grown and shipped ex- 
tensively. 

Fruits are oranges, lemons, mandarins, olives, figs, bananas, guavas, 
grapes and prunes. The finest orange groves and lands in the State 
aro here. 

Timber is cypress, willow, elm, oak, and Cottonwood. 

Some cattle are raised, and a few hogs. 

Game is becasine, snipe, rice birds, wild ducks, geese and swan, pa- 
pabots, coon and opossums. 

Fishing is excellent, and crab, sheepshead, pompano, red fish, floun- 
der, salt water trout, Spanish mackerel, oysters, terrapin and shrimp 
abound. The oyster industry is quite extensive in this Darish. 

POINTE COUPEE PARISH. 

Pointe Coupee Parish is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi 
River, about 22 miles above Baton Rouge. It has an area of 368.000 
acres, all of alluvial soil, exceedingly fertile. The parish is especially 
favored by nature, and it has numerous' bayous across and dividing the 
land into farms of handsome proportions, the bayous affording cheap, 
efficient and practical drainage. 



126 




CATTLE IN NORTH LOUISIANA. 



The public roads (3.25 miles in length) which traverse the parish are 
all in splendid condition, they having a natural drainage, thus keeping 
them in fine condition. False River, once a branch of the Mississippi, 
is now a beautiful lake, one mile wide by 24 miles long. As a fishing 
ground it is surpassed by no stream. It abounds with black bass, saca- 
lait or crappie, perch, catfish, spoonbill catfish, gaspergou, buffalo and 
numerous other species of the finny tribe. 

The lands of Pointe 'Coupee, exceedingly fertile, can produce all of 
the various crops possible in the Southern States, such as corn, cotton, 
cane, peanuts, peas, alfalfa, flax, Irish and sweet potatoes. Cabbage, 
truck, onions, etc., can 'be raised in abundance. 

Another very easy and handsomely paying crop is that of the pecan 
tree, which thrives splendidly in this parish. These trees can be found 
on every farm. The crop is seldom a failure and always finds a ready 
market. Several thousands of sacks are shipped annually to New Or- 
leans, St. Louis and Chicago markets. Wood is to be found in abund- 
ance, the varieties mainly consisting of cypress, oak, persimmon, ash, 
and gum. Pointe Coupee is belted with two parallel lines of the Texas 
and Pacific Railroad, and its western section by the Frisco system, and 
which has just completed an extension to Lakeland, in the southwestern 
portion of the parish. 

Taxation is reasonable and consistent with the needs of the develop- 
ment and management of the parish. There are several towns — New 
Roads, Morganza, Torras — and other are in course of establishment 
along the Frisco system. 



127 



New Roads, the parish seat, has two banks, and among its industries 
are several cotton gins, cotton oil mills, sugar mills, an ice plant, a brick- 
making plant, sawmills, and room for many more. 

Nearly all religious denominations are represented in the parish. 
Among the churches are Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist and 
Presbyterian, and all show the liberal and progressive spirit which ex- 
ists. In no section of the State is the cause of education more assid- 
uously fos-tered than in Pointe Coupee. In New Roads is located the 
famous Poydras Academy, endowed by the great philanthropist, Julien 
Poydras, and which is open to every child in the parish, the tuition 
being absolutely free. The higher academic branches are taught in this 
institution. It is under the supervision of a Board of Trustees, appointed 
annually by the Police Jury. 

Cattle raising can be made the source of a profitable income. Poultry 
of all kinds are raised in abundance and thrive to the fullest extent. 
Fresh eggs can be had every day of the year on any farm in the parish. 

RAPIDES PARISH. 

' Rapides is the central parish of the State, and contains 975,440 acres 
of land. The formation is pine flats and alluvial land, with some bluff 
land and prairie. In the alluvial, bluff and prairie sections the soil is 
very fertile and productive, the chocolate formation being very rich. 



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A PLANTATION HOME OF THE PRESENT DAY. 



128 

It is drained by Red and Calcasieu Rivers, the Bayous Saline, Rapides, 
Boeuf, Falcon and Cocoderie. 

The Texas and Pacific, the Kansas City, Watkins and Gulf, the Lou- 
isiana Railway and Navigation Company, the Iron Mountain and the 
Southern Pacific Railroads pass through the parish, all centering at 
Alexandria, which is the parish seat. 

Cotton and sugar are the chief crop productions for export; corn, 
oats, hay, peas, sweet and Irish potatoes, rice, tobacco, and garden truck 
are produced. The fruits and nuts are peaches, pears, plums, pecans, 
figs, pomegranates, grapes, apples, and the smaller varieties. The wild 
mayhaw grows abundantly throughout the parish; this fruit has no 
superior for jellying purposes. The timber is pine, oak, cypress, cotton- 
wood, hickory, willow, locust, sycamore and gum; large areas of long- 
leaf pine. 

Cattle, sheep, hogs and horses are raised. Game is found, consisting 
of squirrels, rabbits, coons, opossums, foxes, deer, wild turkeys, wild 
ducks, snipe, woodcock, partridges and rice birds. Fishing is good in 
the streams. 

The hot wells at Boyce deserve particular mention. See analysis 
below: 

ANALYSIS EXPRESSED IN PARTS. 

Per 1,000,000. 

Condition Cloudy and heavy sediment in bottom 

Odor when heated to 100 Fahr None 

Odor when heated to boiling Brackish 

Reaction Alkaline 

Nitrogen as free ammonia 0.022 

Nitrogen as albuminoid ammonia 0.060 

Nitrogen as nitrites None 

Nitrogen as nitrates 2.100 

Phosphates Trace 

Oxygen consuming power 5.000 

Total hardness 60 - 00 

Temporary hardness 27.50 

Permanent hardness 32.50 

GASES. 

Carbon dioxide (free) 3 - 50 

Bicarbonates 32.20 

Hydrogen sulphide ^ one 

Remarks. — The chemico-sanitary analysis shows this water to be of 
excellent Quality. Very respectfully, 

(Signed) DR. A. L. METZ, 

What has been done at Hot Springs, Arkansas, West Baden, Indiana, 
Mineral Wells, Texas, and Hot Springs, San Antonio, can and will be 
done at these wonderful hot wells at Boyce. Louisiana. 



129 



RED RIVER PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northwestern part of the State, and 
contains 256,000 acres of land. The formation is good upland and alluvial 
land, the soil being rich and productive. It is drained by Red River 
the Grand and Blacklake Bayous. Water is plentiful and generally good. 

The Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company's line traverses the 
parish along 1 the east bank of Red River. Coushatta, situated on the 
Red River, is the parish seat. 

Cotton is the chief product; sugar cane and alfalfa, corn, oats, hay. 
peas, sweet and Irish potatoes, and the garden varieties all yield good 
returns. The fruits and nuts are peaches, pears, pecans, plums, apples, 
pomegranates, grapes, quinces and figs. The timber is oak, pine, cypress, 
gum, elm, beech, maple, holly, cottonwood, sycamore, poplar, hickory, 
willow and persimmon. 

The live stock raised are cattle, hogs and sheep. Game is abundant, 
such as squirrels, coons, opossums, rabbits, deer, wild turkeys, part- 
ridges, robins, wild ducks and woodcock. Fish are found in the streams, 
among which are the trout, bass, pike and bar lish. 

Great oil wells have been developed and the parish now boasts of an 
output of millions of barrels. 

RICHLAND PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northeastern part of the State, and con- 
tains 369,920 acres of land. The formation is bluff land, alluvial land, and 
a little wooded swamp: soil fertile and productive. It is drained by 
Boeuf River and Bayous Macon, Lafourche and Big Creek. Water is 
abundant and generally good. 

The Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific, and the New Orleans and 
Northwestern Railroads pass through the parish. Rayville, situated on 
these lines of railroad, is the parish seat. 

Cotton is the chief crop produced for export; corn, oats, hay, sor- 
ghum, peas, sweet and Irish potatoes and garden varieties are grown. 
The fruits and nuts are peaches, apples, pears, pecans, plums, grapes, 
figs, pomegranate's and quinces. 

Live stock raised are mostly cattle and hogs. Game is found, con- 
sisting of deer, bear, coons, opossums, rabbits, squirrels, wild turkeys, 
wild ducks, partridges, rice birds, woodcock, and snipe. Fish of good 
quality are abundant in the streams and lakes. 

The timber is oak. gum. cynress. cottonwood. willow, hickory, poplar 
and persimmon. 

SABINE PARISH. 

Sabine Parish includes 1029 square miles of territory, lying in the 
middle of the western border of the State; undulating hammock, hill 
and valley lands, watered by six creeks which rise near its eastern bor- 
der on the divide between the Red and Sabine Rivers and flow swiftly 
in deep channels southwestwardly to the Sabine River, its western 
boundary. 



130 




Soils. — In the highlands the surface is usually red clay, containing 
sand; in the hammocks and bottoms a rich sandy loam. Some spots 
are deep sand. Almost the whole is susceptible of cultivation, and is 
free and productive. Ninety thousand acres are cleared for farming, 
of which 171 acres are devoted to truck farming. 

Climate and Water. — The climate is salubrious, owing to mild tem- 
peratures summer and winter, and the rarity of stagnant water. Good 
freestone water can be had generally by the sinking of wells. 

Industries. — Probably three-fourths of the inhabitants are engaged in 
agriculture; others in sawmill work, in stave making, or tie making. 

Farm Products. — Cotton, corn, sugar cane, sorghum, peanuts, peas 
and potatoes, both Irish and sweet, are the chief products. Cattle, hogs, 
sheep, horses and mules thrive and are cheaply raised on wild clover, 
Bermuda and other nutritious grasses on the open range. Figs, plums, 
dewberries and blackberries, beside garden vegetables usual to latitude 
32, east of this, do well. Strawberries, grapes, peaches, pears and apri- 
cots are remunerative if given proper attention. Hickory nuts, walnuts, 
pecans and chinquepins grow spontaneously. 

Population. — 1'he population consist? of natives, settlers from other 
parts of the Union and from foreign countries. Of the last. Belgians 
predominate. Of natives, 10 per cent are of Spanish extraction. About, 
one-fifth of the whole are negroes. 

Schools. — The public schools, numbering 104, are in a flourishing con- 
dition. The average term is six months, and the average salary of white 
teachers is $60. For school purposes during the past year $60,000 has 
been expended. 



131 

ST. BERNARD PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the extreme southeastern part of the State, 
and contains 435,205 acres. The formation is coast marsh and alluvial 
land. It is drained by the Mississippi River, Lake Borgne, and Bayous 
Terre au Boeuf, Loutre and Biloxi, and also Lake Borgne Canal. 

The Mississippi, Terre au Boeuf and Lake Railroad, having a line 
extending to Shell Beach, on Lake Borgne, passes through the parish. 
St. Bernard, situated on the Mississippi River, is the parish seat. The 
parish adjoins Orleans. 

Sugar is the chief crop product; but rice, jute and the garden and 
truck varieties are extensively raised and shipped. Sea Island cotton 
also does well. The fruits and nuts are oranges, lemons, mandarins, figs, 
pecans, bananas, grapes, guavas, olives and prunes. Some few cattle 
and hogs are raised here. Game consists of becasine, snipe, rice birds, 
papabots, wild ducks, coons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits and deer. 
Fish of fine quality are plentiful; oysters, crabs and terrapin are also 
found. The timber is oak, cypress, willow, elm, pine and gum. 

The settlement of this parish commenced With the hardy pioneers 
who came with De Bienville when he removed the seat of government 
from Mobile to New Orleans. Plantations of indigo and later on sugar 
cane were introduced, and to two citizens of the parish, Mendes and 
Solis, must be given the credit of having first planted sugar cane in the 
State, and to another, Mr. Coiron, the distinction of first cultivating 
ribbon cane. Judge Gayarre says that Mr. Etienne de Bore borrowed 
from Mendes and Solis the cane from which he succeeded in making 
sugar of satisfactory quality. The parish has still another claim to 
fame: it was on her plains of Chalmette that the Battle of New Orleans 
was fought and won; it was in the then "Palace of Versailles," a beau- 
tiful home in all its glory of fine Italian marble, that General Packen- 
ham had his headquarters. It was under four oaks of St. Bernard, back 
of the Mercier place, that the English General, from his horse, directed 
the batle, and thence, desperately wounded, was taken back to the 
"Palace" (from whose floors trees now spring) and then on down to the 
Villere home, near which, under a pecan tree, the heart and entrails of 
the General were buried. The lower part of this old house still stands 
in fair preservation, one hundred and seventy- five years old. 

ST. CHARLES PARISH. 

St. Charles Parish, incorporated March 31, 1807, is in the southeastern 
part of Louisiana, and has an area of 251,520 acres. It is bounded on 
the north by Lake Pontchartrain and the Parish of St. John the Baptist, 
south by Lafourche Parish and Lake Salvador, east by Lake Salvador 
and Jefferson Parish, west by the Parishes of Lafourche and St. John 
the Baptist and Lake Des Allemands. The population is approximately 
15,000, of which 9,000 are negroes and 500 Italians. 

The number of acres in cultivation and outlying is 28,000; about 
23,000 in cultivation, and nearly 5,000 lying out and not in cultivation. 
The land consists of a rich alluvial soil, having much organic matter and 
being exceptionally fertile. The drainage takes place from natural 
causes, water running from the bluff on each side of the Mississippi 



132 



River to bayous and swamps in the rear. With the exception of these 
bluffs, the land is practically level, and the drainage is hastened by 
ditches. 

The Mississippi River runs through the parish. There are numerous 
small bayous, the most important being Bayou Des Allemands and Bayou 
La Branche. Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Salvador and Lake Des Alle- 
mands all border on the parish. 

There are six railroads running through the parish; The Texas and 
Pacific Railroad and the Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad, on the 
west side of the river, and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, 
the Louisiana Railway & Navigation Company, the Frisco Lines and the 
Illinois Central Railroad on the east side of the river. The Yazoo and 
Mississippi Valley Railroad and the Texas & Pacific Railroad both run 
along the river. 

In the parish are nine sugar-houses, and there is a large sawmill at 
Taft, which saws cypress timber. 

The reclamation of swamp lands is beginning to be done on a large 
scale, and several thousand acres have already been reclaimed at La 
Branche a*nd at Paradis. 

The seining and shipping of fish at Des Allemands has grown into 
an important industry. The buffalo fish is caught and packed into bar- 
rels for shipment to northern packeries. Large quantities of minks, rac- 
coons and muskrats are caught yearly during the trapping season, and 
large quantities of game are killed. 

Sugar cane, rice, corn, all kinds of vegetables and some tropical 
fruits are produced. The principal crops are sugar and rice. 

Large quantities of corn are also produced. 

The raising of vegetables at St. Rose, where unusually large cabbages 
are produced and shipped to northern markets in refrigerator cars, is an 
important feature, and vegetables can be successfully raised during the 
entire year. Little attention is given to planting fruit trees, and cattle- 
raising is not given the attention it deserves. Farmers are beginning to 
raise hogs more abundantly. Cattle find good grazing nine months a 
year, and poultry raising can be carried on successfully throughout the 
year. Almost every kind of game is found in the woods, almost every 
species of fish in the river, lakes and bayous. 

The rainfall is abundant. The dirt roads are as good as any other 
roads of a similar character. 

ST. HELENA PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and con- 
tains 264.320 acres of land. The formation is pine hills, flats and bluff 
land; soil fertile and productive. It is drained by the Amite and Tick- 
faw Rivers and their branches. Water is abundant and of good quality. 

A logging steam tramroad connects Greensburg, the parish seat, with 
Lhe main line of the Illinois Central Railroad. 

Cotton is the chief crop production; corn, oats, hay, peas, sweet and 
Irish potatoes, sorghum, tobacco and sugar cane are raised. The fruits 
and nuts are pears, grapes, plums, pecans, apples, peaches, quinces and 
the smaller varieties. Live stock are cattle, sheep, hogs and horses. 



133 



The timber is pine, oak, beech, magnolia, holly, gum, hickory, poplar 
and persimmon. Long-leaf pine is extensive. Game is found, such as 
deer, coons, opossums, foxes, squirrels, rabbits, wild turkeys, wild ducks, 
partridges, woodcock and robins. Fish are found in the rivers and other 
streams, the Tickfaw being noted for its fine quality and quantity of 
trout. 

ST. JAMES PARISH. 

The parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and is 
divided by the Mississippi River. It contains 219,520 acres of land, the 
soil being very fertile and productive. The formation is alluvial land, 
wooded swamp, and a little coast marsh. It is drained by the Mississippi 
River, Bayou Des Acadians and several small bayous. Water is plentiful 
.and good. 

The Y. & M. V., L. R. & N., Frisco, and Texas and Pacific Railroads 
pass through the parish. Convent, situated on the east bank of the 
Mississippi River, is the parish seat. Sugar is the chief crop product; 
rice, corn, tobacco, hay, oats, 'beans and sweet and Irish potatoes are 
raised. The famous Perique tobacco is almost exclusively raised in this 
parish. Figs, oranges, lemons, mandarins, guavas, plums, peaches, pears, 
pecans, grapes and pomegranates are grown. 

Game consists of becasine, snipe, rice birds, squirrels, coons, opos- 
sums, rabbits, and some few deer and bear. Fish are found in the bayous 
and lagoons, of good quality, among them bass and pike. 

The timber is cypress, oak, gum, elm, willow and cottonwood. 

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of v the State, and is 
divided toy the Mississippi River. It contains 147,200 acres, and the for- 
mation is alluvial land, wooded swamp and coast marsh. The soil is rich 
and productive. It is drained by the Mississippi River and Lakes Pont- 
chartrain, Maurepas and Des Allemands. Water is abundant and fairly 
good. 

The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley, the Illinois Central, L. R. & N., 
Frisco and the Texas and Pacific Railroads extend through the parish. 
Edgard, situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River, is the parish 
seat. 

Sugar is the chief product; rice, oats, corn, hay, sweet and Irish 
potatoes and peas are produced. Oranges, figs, grapes, plums, pecans, 
guavas and pomegranates are grown. Some cattle and hogs are raised. 

Game consists of squirrels, coons, opossums, rabbits, wild ducks, beca- 
sine, snipe and rice birds. Some few deer and bear are found. Fish, of 
good quality, abound in the lakes and bayous. 

The timber is cypress, oak, gum, elm, cottonwood, and willow. 

ST. LANDRY PARISH. 

St. Landry is situated in the south-central part of the State and con- 
tains 562,500 acres of land. The formation is prairie, alluvial land, pine 
flats, wooded swamp, and bluff land. The soil is very fertile and pro- 
ductive. It is drained by the Atchafalaya River, and Bayous Rouge, 



134 



Courtableu, Teche, Boeuf, Cocodrie, and Nezique. Water is plentiful and 
of good quality. 

The Texas and Pacific Railroad passes through .the northeastern por- 
tion, and the branch road of the Southern Pacific, extending from Lafay- 
ette to Cheneyville, runs through the parish. Opelousas, situated on 
Bellevue Bayou, is the parish seat. - 

Cotton, rice and sugar are the chief crops produced for export; and 
corn, oats, hay. sweet and Irish potatoes, beans, sorghum, and the 
garden varieties and truck are extensively raised. The fruits are 
peaches, pears, plums, apples, grapes, quinces, figs, pomegranates, per- 
simmons and the smaller varieties. 

Live stock is extensively raised; sheep, cattle, horses and hugs all 
do remarkablj well here and are a very profitable investment. Game is 
found, consisting of squirrels, opossums, rabbits, beavers, deer, wild 
turkeys, wild ducks and geese, woodcocks, becasi partridges, pheas- 
ants, snipe and rice birds. Fish abound in the streams, such as ass, 
trout and pike. The timber embraces pine, oak, beech, magnolia, holly, 
gum, elm, persimmon, hickory, pecan, walnut, willow and sycamore. 

ST. MARTIN PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southern part of the Stale, and con- 
tains 395,520 acres. The formation is wooded, swamp, prairie, ail J vial 
land, and a small area of bluff land; soil fertile and productive. It is 




SCENE ON A BAYOU. 



135 



drained by the Atchafalaya River, Bayou Teche, Tortue, La Rose. L'Em- 
barras and Catahoula Coulee. 

St. Martinville, situated on the Teche, is the parish seat, and is con- 
nected with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Cade Station. Sugar is 
the chief crop production; rice, corn, cats, hay, sweet and Irish potatoes, 
tobacco, cotton and the garden varieties are also grown. 

The fruits are oranges, lemons, mandarins, guavas, grapes, plums, 
prunes, pomegranates, peaches, pears, fi;s, apples, persimmons and 
quinces. 

Cattle, sheep, hogs and horses are raised. Game, such as partridges, 
rice birds, pheasants, wild turkeys, squirrels, rabbits, conns, opossums, 
deer and bear are fmind. Fish are plentiful in the bayous, lakes and 
lagoons. 

The Anse la Butte oil field lies just within the borders of this parish. 
Good results have already been obtained in this field, and much greater 
ones are expected when it is fully developed. 

The timber embraces cypress, oak, gum, elm, willow, cottonwood. 
sugarwood and sycamore. 

ST. MARY PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southern part of the State, and con- 
tains 414,720 acres. Its formation is coast marsh, alluvial land, prairie, 
wooded swamp, and a small amount of bluff land. The soil is exceed- 
ingly rich and productive. It is drained by the Atchafalaya River, Grand 
Lake and Bayous Teche, Sale and Cypremont. The Southern Pacific 
Railroad extends through the parish. Franklin, situated on the Teche, 
is the parish seat. Water is plentiful and good. 

Sugar is the chief crop product; rice, corn, oats, hay, peas, sweet and 
Irish potatoes and garden varieties are extensively raised. The fruits 
and nuts are the orange, lemon, mandarin, fig, grape, persimmon, pome- 
granate, guava, plum, peach, pear, pecan, olive, banana and prune. 

Cattle, hogs and some horses are raised. Game consists of snipe, 
becasine, pheasants, rice birds, partridges, squirrels, rabbits, coons, 
opossums and deer. Fish are plentiful in the bayous, lakes, lagoons 
and inlets, and oysters, crabs and terrapin are taken in the brackish 
waters. The timber is cypress, oak, cottonwood, gum, elm and willow. 

ST. TAMMANY PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and con- 
tains 590.720 acres of land. The formation is pine hills, pine flats, allu- 
vial land and wooded swamp; soil, fertile and productive. It is drained 
by Pearl River, West Pearl, Chefuncta Cor Tchefuncta) River, and 
Bogue Chitto, Bogue Falia and other streams. The New I udeans and 
Northeastern Railroad, belonging to the Queen and Crescent system, 
passes through the parish. 

Covington, situated on the Bogue Falia, is the parish seat. It is con- 
nected with the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad at West Pearl 
Station. Sugar, rice, cotton, corn, hay, oats, beans, sweet and Irish 
potatoes and truck garden varieties are extensively raised. 

So famous has this parish become as a health resort, that it is known 
everywhere now as the "Ozone Belt." Thousands of cases of lung com- 



136 



plaints have been successfully cured by this salubrious climate. Beau- 
tiful springs, whcse waters are recognized as of great medicinal value, 
abound through the parish. The most famous >of these is the Abita 
Spring, which has a capacity of 40,000 gallons daily. 

The fruits and nuts are peaches, plums, pears, pecans, apples, tigs, 
prunes, grapes, pomegranates, quinces and persimmons. 

Cattle, hogs, sheep and a few horses are raised. Game consists of 
squirrels, rabbits, coons, opossums, deer, wild turkeys, wild ducks, papa- 
bots, bacasine, snipe, partridges and rice birds. Fish are plentiful in 
the streams and lakes; fine trout, bass and pike are taken. The timber 
is pine, oak, cypress, gum, elm and hickorv. 



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A CAULIFLOWER FIELD. 



TANGIPAHOA PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and con- 
tains 505,600 acres of land. The formation is pine hills, pine flats, wooded 
swamps, and a small amount of alluvial land. The soil is fertile and 
productive. It. is drained by the Tangipahoa, Ohefuncta. Natalbany and 
Ponchatoula Rivers, Ohappapeela Creek and numerous smaller streams. 
"Water is abundant and of good quality. 

The Illinois Central Railroad extends through the parish, north and 
■south. Amite City, situated on this line of road and near the Tangi- 
pahoa River, is the parish seat. Hammond has become very popular as 
:a. winter resort. 

Cotton, corn, oats, nay, sugar cane, rice, tobacco, sorghum, sweet and 
Irish potatoes, peas and truck and garden varieties are grown. Along 
the line of the Illinois Central truck and strawberries are extensively 
-grown and shipped. Fruits are peaches, pears, apples, plums, grapes, 



137 



quinces, figs, pomegranates, persimmons and a variety of smaller kinds. 
Cattle, hogs, sheep and horses are raised. The timher is pine, oak, ash, 
gum, elm. hickory, poplar, cucumber, cottonwood. willow, beech and 
sycamore. 

Game is found, such as squirrels, coons, opossums, foxes, rabbits, deer, 
wild turkeys, wild ducks, woodcock, snipe, becasine, rice birds, part- 
ridges and robins. Fish of excellent aualitv are taken from the streams; 
trout, bass, pike and blue cat are found. 

TENSAS PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northeastern part of the State, and con- 
tains 410.240 acres of land. The formation is alluvial lands and wooded 
swarm); soil very rich and productive. It is drained by the Mississippi 
and Tensas Rivers, and Bayous Vidal, Durossett, Choctaw and Clark's. 
Water is plentiful and good. St. Joseph, situated on the Mississippi 
River, is the parish seat. 

The new Gould line traverses the parish from north to south, furnish- 
ing direct communication with New Orleans and St. Louis. 

Cotton is the chief crop product for export; corn, hay, oats, sweet 
and Irish potatoes, peas and garden varieties are grown. The fruits are 
peaches, plums, pears and apples. Cattle, ho.srs and some sheep and 
horses are raised. 

The timber is oak, gum, cypress, cottonwood, pecan, persimmon, mag- 
nolia, elm, sycamore and willow. 

Game is found, such as squirrels, rabbits, deer, bear, wild turkeys, 
wild ducks and geese, woodcock, snipe, partridges, plover, rice birds and 
robins. 

Pish, in quantity, are taken from the lakes and bayous; bass, trout, 
white perch and pike are found. 

TERREBONNE PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southern part of the State, and contains 
1,265,280 acres. The formation is largely composed of coast marsh with 
a considerable area of alluvial lands and wooded swamp. The soil is 
exceedingly rich and productive. It is drained partially by Black, De 
Large, Grand and Petit Caillou Bayous, and Blue and Blue Hammock 
Bayous. 

Houma, situated on Bayou Terrebonne, is the parish seat. It is con- 
nected with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Schriever Station. Sugar 
and rice are the chief crop productions; jute, peas, hay and Irish pota- 
toes are grown. The fruits are oranges, lemons, mandarins, olives, ba- 
nanas, prunes, figs, pomegranates, guavas and plums. 

The timber is oak, cypress, gum, elm and willow. 

Some cattle and hogs are raised. Game is found, such as wild ducks 
and geese, papabots, jack snipe, becasine, pheasants, rice birds, squir- 
rels, deer and bear. Fish of fine quality are found; sheepshead, pom- 
pano, salt water trout, Spanish mackerel, pike and crabs. Oyster and 
shrimp canning is quite an important industry. 



138 



UNION PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northern part of the State, and con- 
tains 582,700 acres of lands. The formation is good upland, red, sandy 
clay, and some alluvial lands. The soil is very fertile and productive. 
It is drained by the Ouachita River, Bayou D'Arbonne, and affluents of 
these streams. 

The Arkansas Southern and the Little Rock and Monroe Railroads 
run through the parish, north and south. 

The Farmerville and Southern Railroad runs from the main line of 
the Little Rock and Monroe to Farmerville, which is the parish seat. 

Water is abundant and of good quality, good springs and wells, and 
numerous branches and creeks. 

Cotton is the chief crop product, and corn, oats, hay, wheat, sor- 
ghum, peas, sweet and Irish potatoes, tobacco and sugar cane are raised. 
Diversified farming is practiced. 

The fruits are peaches, apples, pears, plums, grapes, pomegranates, 
figs and quinces. Excellent fruit is raised. 

The timber is pine, oak, beech, hickory, maple, walnut, holly, gum, 
elm and poplar. 

Live stock raised on the farms comprise cattle, sheep, hogs and 
horses. Game consists of squirrels, rabbits, coons, opossums, foxes, 
deer, wild turkeys, wild ducks, woodcock and partridges. Trout, bar 
fish and speckled and blue cat are found among the fish in the streams. 

VERMILION PARISH. 

Vermilion Parish is situated in the southwestern part of the State, 
and contains 800,000 acres of land. The formation is coast marsh, prai- 
rie, alluvial and bluff lands; soil rich and productive. It is drained by 
the Vermilion River and Bayous Queue de Tortue and Fresh Water. 
Abbeville, situated on the Vermilion River, is the parish seat. 

A branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad runs through the parish. 

Rice is the chief crop product; sugar, corn, oats, hay, peas, sweet 
and Irish potatoes, and truck varieties are raised. The fruits and nuts 
are oranges, lemons, mandarins, plums, pecans, guavas, figs, peaches, 
prunes, pomegranates and grapes. The timber varieties are oak, gum, 
elm, cypress, cotton wood a,nd willow. 

Live stock raised are cattle, hogs, sheep and horses. Game consists of 
rice birds, pheasants, becasine, snipe, partridges, papabots and wild 
ducks and deer. Fish are taken from the streams and inlets, and crabs, 
oysters, diamond-back terrapins and salt water varieties of fish are 
found. 

VERNON PARISH. 

• This parish is situated in the western part of the State, and contains 
986,600 acres of land. The formation is chiefly pine hills, with a little 
prairie and alluvial lands. The Kansas City Southern Railroad runs 
from north to south through this parish. It is drained by the Sabine and 
Calcasieu Rivers and Bayous, Comrade, Castor, Anacoco, and numerous 
small streams. Water is abundant and of good quality. The soil is 
fairly' productive. 



139 



Leesville, on the Kansas City Southern Railroad, is the parish seat. 
Cotton is the chief crop product, and corn, hay, oats, peas, sweet and 
Irish potatoes, and sorghum are grown. 

The fruits and nuts are- peaches, pears, pecans, apples, figs, pome- 
granates, plums and grapes. Live stock comprises cattle, sheep, hogs 
and horses. Game consists of deer, squirrels, coons, opossums, rabbits, 
beaver, wild turkeys, wild ducks, partridges, woodcock, pheasant, beca- 
sine, snipe, plover and rice birds. There are fine varieties of fish found 
in the streams, among them trout, pike, bar fish and bass. 

The timber is pine, oak, elm, gum, willow, hickory and cottonwood. 
Extensive areas of long-leaf pine exist. 

WASHINGTON PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northeast corner of the southeast por- 
tion of the State, and contains 427,520 acres of land. The formation is 
pine hills and flats, with a little alluvial land along its eastern border. 
The soil is fairly good. It is drained by Pearl River, Bogue Chitto and 
Chefuncta Creek. Water is abundant and good. 

The Kentwood and Eastern Railway runs through the northern part 
of the parish. 

Franklinton, situated on the Bogue Chitto, is the parish seat. Cotton 
is the chief product; hay, oats, corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, tobacco, 
sorghum, peas and the truck varieties are grown. The fruits are peaches, 
pears, plums, apples, figs, quinces, pomegranates and grapes. 

Live stock are cattle, horses, hogs and sheep. Game is found, such as 
deer, foxes, coons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, beaver, wild turkeys, 
wild ducks, partridges, woodcock and rice birds. Fish abound in the 
creeks, and among the varieties are trout, bar fish, bass and pike. 

The timber is pine, long-leaf, beech, holly, poplar, gum, elm, mag- 
nolia, oak and maple. 

In this parish is the great little city of Bogalusa, which boasts of the 
largest sawmill in the United States, its capacity being one million feet 
per day. 

WEBSTER PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northwestern part of the State, and 
contains 393,600 acres of land. The formation is good uplands and some 
alluvial lands. The soil is very good and fertile. It is drained by I>or- 
chite, Crows and Black Lake Bayous and Lake Bisteneau. Minden is 
the parish seat. The water is plentiful and good; springs, wells and 
small streams abound. 

The Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad extends east and 
West, and the Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad north and south 
through the parish. Cotton is the chief crop product, and corn, hay, oats, 
peas, sorghum, sugar cane, sweet and Irish potatoes and tobacco are 

grown. 

The fruits are peaches, pears, apples, plums, figs, grapes, pomegran- 
ates and quinces. Salt deposits exist, and beds of potters' clay, fire clay, 
lignite and marl are found. Timber is pine, oak, gum, hickory, beech, 
holly, elm, poplar, walnut and maple. 



140 



Live stock raised are cattle, hogs, sheep, and a few horses. Game 
consists of squirrels, deer, foxes, rabbits, coons, opossums, wild tur- 
keys, wild ducks, woodcock, robins and partridges. Fish of good aualitv 
are found in the streams. 

WEST BATON ROUGE. 

This parish is situated in the south-central part of the State, and 
lies west of the Mississippi River. In area it is the smallest parish, ex- 
cept Orleans, in the State, and contains 134,400 acres of land. The for- 
mation is alluvial land and wooded swamp, very fertile and productive. 
The Mississippi River drains the eastern borders, and Bayous Grosse 
Tete, Poydras and Stumpy the other sections. Drinking water is good. 

The Texas and Pacific Railroad passes through the southern part of 
the parish, and has a branch road leading from Baton Rouge Junction 
to Ferriday. This branch line will form part of the main line of the new 
Gould line, St. Louis to New Orleans. Also the Frisco and Southern 
Pacific branch to Lafayette pass through the parish. 

Port Allen, situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River, is the 
parish seat. The timber consists of oak, cypress, pecan, persimmon, 
gum, poplar, Cottonwood, haekberry and willow. The general crop of 
the parish is sugar; rice, corn, hay, oats, sweet and Irish potatoes, peas, 
cotton and the garden varieties are produced. Fruits are pears, peaches, 
plums, apples, figs and grapes. 

Some live stock are raised, such as cattle, hogs, sheep and horses. 
Game and fish abound; deer, bear, squirrels, coons, opossums, wild 
turkeys, wild geese and ducks, becasine, jack snipe, partridges, rice birds 
and robins are found. 

WEST CARROLL PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the northeastern part of the State, and 
contains 243,200 acres of land. It is of bluff formation chiefly, with 
some wooded swamp and alluvial land, the soil of •which is rich and pro- 
ductive. It is drained by Bayou Macon on the eastern and Boeuf River 
on its western borders. Floyd, situated on Bayou Macon, is the parish 
seat. Water is abundant and of good quality. 

Gotton is the chief crop product, and corn, hay, oats, sugar cane, 
sweet and Irish potatoes, sorghum, peas and the garden varieties are 
raised. The timber varieties are oak, cypress, ash, beech, elm, gum, cotton- 
wood, pecan, locust, hickory, magnolia, holly, mulberry and persimmon. 

Live stock, such as cattle, sheep, hogs and horses, are raised. 

Game a,bounds. among which are deer, bear, squirrels, rabbits, coons, 
opossums, foxes, wild turkeys, wild ducks and geese, robins and wood- 
cock. Fishins: is good in the streams, and bass, bar fish, white perch 
and trout are found. 

WEST FELICIANA PARISH. 

This parish is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and 
contains 246.400 acres of land. The formation is bluff and alluvial land, 
with some wooded swamp. It is drained bv the Mississippi River, 
Bayous Tunica and Sara, and Thompson's Creek. A branch line of the 
Mississippi Valley Railroad, from Slaughter Station to Woodville, Miss., 



141 



extends through the parish. The Louisiana Railway and Navigation 
.Company traverses the parish. 

St. Francisville, situated on the Mississippi River, is the parish seat. 
The water throughout the parish is abundant and of good quality. The 
chief crop product is cotton; corn, hay, oats, peas, sweet and Irish 
potatoes, sorghum, sugar cane and tobacco are raised. The timber is 
cypress, cottonwood, willow, oak, pine, beech, gum, elm, magnolia, holly, 
hackberry, hickory, poplar, sycamore, walnut and persimmon. The fruits 
and nuts are peaches, pears, pecans, apples, prunes, pomegranates, figs, 
quinces and grapes. Live stock thrives remarkably well, and this par- 
ish has long been noted for its superior breeds of blooded cattle. Hogs, 
sheep and horses do well here. Game abounds, such as deer, coons, 
opossums, .foxes, rabbits, squirrels, beavers, wild turkeys, wild ducks 
and geese, partridges, snipe, rice birds and woodcock. Excellent varie- 
ties of fish are taken from the lakes, bayous and creeks, among which are 
trout, bass, white perch and bar fish. 

The Tunica hills are most suitable for grape culture and horticul- 
ture, the soil being a rich marl loam. 

WINN PARISH. 

Winn Parish is situated near the central part of the State, and con- 
tains 610,560 acres of land. The formation is pine hills, with a small 
amount of good uplands. The soil is fair, and the creek bottoms very 
good. It is drained by the Dugdemona River, Saline Bayou, Flat Creek, 
Bayou Jatt and other streams. The water is abundant and good. 

The Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company and the Arkansas 
Southern Railroads run through the parish. 

Winnfield, situated near the center, is the parish seat. Cotton is the 
chief product; corn, hay, oats, peas, sweet and Irish potatoes, sorghum, 
sugar cane and tobacco are grown. The fruits and nuts are peaches, 
pears, plums, apples, figs, pecans, English walnuts, quinces, grapes and 
pomegranates. The timber comprises pine, oak, elm, hickory and gum. 
There are extensive aeras of long-leaf pine. Live stock are cattle, sheep 
and hogs. Game consists of deer, coons, opossums, foxes, squirrels, rab- 
bits, wild turkeys, robins, woodcock and partridges. Fish of good va- 
rieties are found in the streams. There are deposits of salt, marble, 
lignite, kaolin, gypsum, limestone, iron, fire clay and potters' clay. 



]42 




THE END OF TWO CENTURIES. 




'Possum fat and 'taters sweet. 



143 
FORCES AT WORK IN BEHALF OF THE FARMER 

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND IMMIGRATION. 

THE DEPARTMENT endeavors to get as close to the farmers as 
possible. Periodically, crop reports, setting forth the prospects, 
conditions and variety of crops in Louisiana, accompanied with one or 
more papers relating to some particular question of importance in agri- 
culture hy some distinguished agriculturist, are distributed free to the 
farmers of the State. As a Bureau of Information, the Department in- 
vites, receives and answers thousands of letters annually, seeking agri- 
cultural information. It issues, from time to time, other agricultural 
literature for distribution, including the Market Report Bulletins every 
week. 

THE LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY AND AGRICULTURAL 
AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE 

is doing a grand work in the education of young men of the State in 
Agriculture and its underlying sciences. Special courses are provided in 
Agriculture, the Mechanics, Chemistry, and the culture of sugar cane, 
Veterinary Science, Entomology, Horticulture, Geology and Biology, 
which fully equip many young men to engage in agricultural pursuits, 
where they become teachers and leaders in their respective communities 
throughout the State. The foundation is here being laid for an advanced 
and modern system of agriculture, which a great agricultural State like 
Louisiana stands in need of. 

AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 

The Agricultural Experiment Stations of the Louisiana State Uni- 
versity, created by an Act of Congress, known as the "Hatch Bill," 
passed in 1887, appropriates $15,000 annually for the establishment of 
Experiment Stations in connection with the State Agricultural Colleges. 
The Legislature of Louisiana appropriates annually a like amount for 
the maintenance of these Stations. The Board of Supervisors of the 
State University divided these funds equally between three Stations. 
One is located on the College grounds at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, known 
as the "State Experiment Station," and deals with general agriculture 
upon the bluff lands of the State. One is located at Audubon Park, 
New Orleans, Louisiana, known as "The Sugar Experiment Station." and 
deals especially with sugar cane and its manufacture and, incidentally, 
with oranges and semi-tropical crops. It is located upon alluvial lands. 
One located in north Louisiana, at Calhoun, known as "The North Lou- 
isiana Experiment Station," in the Parish of Ouachita, on the line of 
the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, deals with general 
diversified agriculture, dairying, live stock and poultry. It is situated 
on the oak, hickory, and short-leaf pine lands of the State, geologically 
known as "good uplands." Thus, it is seen, Louisiana has three Expe- 
riment Stations, located upon the different types of soils, each studying 
and solving the problems that concern education of the farmers of the 
State, and one at Crowley, which deals with the rice industry of the 
State. 



144 



PARISH AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. 

are being: organized and conducted in a great many of the parishes of 
Louisiana, the Department of Agriculture taking a leading part in this 
work. Quite a number of these fairs have already bee'n organized, and 
a great many more are planned for organizing during the fall of 1911. 

The Farmers' Institutes, Agricultural Clubs and Parish Fairs form a 
trinity of educational forces at work in the several parishes of the State 
that cannot be equaled. 

FERTILIZER AND FEED STUFF LAWS. 

The Department of Agriculture has the enforcement and control of 
the Fertilizer, Feed Stuff and Paris Green Laws, which secure to the 
farmer unadulterated fertilizers, cotton seed meal, feed stuff and Paris 
green, and protects him against fraud in their purchase. This is a most 
important work in behalf of agriculture. 

THE MOVING PICTURE IN EXTENSION AND EDUCATIONAL 

WORK. 

The most popular of all pleasures, the moving picture, has been 
brought forth as a great motive power in disseminating agricultural 
work and knowledge by Professor E. S. Richardson. 

By using an automobile equipped with a small dynamo for produc- 
ing current for lights, the Junior Extension Division of the Louisiana 
State University has been able to show educational moving pictures and 
lantern slides to more than 50,000 people during the past twenty- two 
months. During this time the Junior Extension staff have traveled 
14,000 miles and visited 33 parishes. The remotest country districts were 
included in the itineraries. The pictures were shown usually at the 
schoolhouses and the programs attended by boys and girls belonging 
to the agricultural schools, by their parents, and farmers generally. 
Thousands of rural people, most of whom had never before seen moving 
pictures, have been entertained and instructed by this means. This 
machine is the only one of its kind in successful operation, and it is 
believed to have great possibilities in extension and educational work. 

The auto-stereoDticon and moving picture machine, as it has been 
termed, is the invention of Prof. E. S. Richardson, who is in charge of 
the boys' and girls' club work of Louisiana. For the past two months it 
has been operated by the Junior Extension Department of the State 
University, cooperating with the State Department of Agriculture. The 
State Department has furnished the services of an expert chauffeur. 
This cooperation has added much to the efficiency of the work of the 
picture machine. 

Parish school superintendents and other rural school workers are 
very enthusiastic over the results of the visits that have been made to 
their parishes with this educational moving picture machine. In every 
instance there has been an increased interest in agricultural club and 
extension work. The parents, as well as the boys and girls, have been 
awakened to its practical value. All the parishes in which these educa- 
tional pictures have been shown have requested return visits, and at 



145 



the present time Professor Richardson has more requests for return 
engagements than he can comply with. 

The following letter from Superintendent F. M. Hamilton of Calca- 
sieu Parish is one of many received by President Thos. D. Boyd of the 
Louisiana State University in commendation of the work of the auto- 
stereopticon and moving picture machine: 

"Mr. E. S. Richardson and his assistants, Mr. Balis and Mr. Guilbeau, 
have just completed a tour of Calcasieu Parish with the moving picture 
outfit. I wish to express to you and your department our appreciation 
for this work. I attended all the meetings held in this parish with one 
exception. At practically all points we had more people than antici- 
pated, and a conservative estimate of the total number attending is 
twenty-three hundred. At no place did the machine fail to work, and 
at practically all places leading people of the community express them- 
selves as highly gratified with the pictures and lectures. In my opin- 
ion, this work marks a new era in the extension movement." 

Harry D. Wilson, State Commissioner of Agriculture, was highly im- 
pressed from the beginning with this machine, and believes it to be one 
of the most effective methods of reaching the rural Deople with edu- 
cational and agricultural propaganda. 




A GOOD ROAD BETWEEN ASCENSION AND ASSUMPTION 



146 




147 
GOOD ROADS 

THE LEGISLATURE, at its session of 1910. enacted laws on this 
subject that can and will redound in great benefit to the entire 
people. In substance, they are as follows: The State employs a High- 
way Engineer, who will supervise the construction of all roads, the ex- 
penses for building the roads to be borne one-half by the State and one- 
half by the parish or town. The roads shall be built as far as practica- 
ble in the order of the date of receipt of the applications from Pres- 
idents of the Police Juries of the respective parishes. In order to further 
carry out the provisions of the act and provide sufficient labor to con- 
struct and maintain the public roads as provided for. the convicts of 
the State may be worked as authorized by the Constitution. The labor 
furnished by the convicts shall be secured by the State Highway En- 
gineer making application to the Board of Control of the State Peni- 
tentiary, who shall furnish such convicts in case they are available, and 
free of charge; provided, however, that the cost of maintenance and 
operation shall be borne by the parish, municipality or road district 
having the work perforem.d The Board of Control of the State Peni- 
tentiary shall at all times retain control and supervision over said con- 
victs 



EDUCATION 

MANY YEARS AGO the peoDle of Louisiana, realizing the vast im- 
portance of education, determined to aim high in this grand work, 
and. step by step, as the years rolled 'round, the onward and upward 
march has continued. The Legislators have always shown a liberality 
in appropriations commensurate with a great State's great cause. The 
Police Juries and City or Town Councils have kept an even pace with 
the State, and a combination of all the various elements is a motive 
power so potent that no fears are now apprehended as to Louisiana's 
place among her sister States. 

I.— SCHOOL SYSTEMS. 

(1) A State system of public schools supported partly by State tax- 
ation, partly by police jury, and other local appropriations, and super- 
vised by a State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a State Board of 
Education, and Parish School Boards. 

(2) The city school systems separate in organization and supervision 
from the State system, but partially supported by the prorated school 
revenues of the State. 

II.— HIGHER EDUCATION. 

(1) High schools officially recognized by the State Board of Educa- 
tions as pursuing an approved curriculum. 

(2) The State University and Agricultural & Machanical College. 

(3) Tulane University of Louisiana, which, although exacting tui- 
tion fees, may be considered a semi-public institution, owing to its 
scholarship system, and the fact that the State contributes indirectly 
largely to its support by exempting its investments from taxation. 



148 



III.— PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL TRAINING 

(1) The State Normal School at Natchitoches. 

(2) The New Orleans Normal School. 

Both of these institutions are preparing- for the public school 
service of the State a corps of fully equipped and professionally trained 
teachers. 

(3) State Teachers' Institutes and Summer Normal Schools. These 
give the opportunity of one month's training and professional study to 
teachers who are unable to take the more extended courses of the State 
Normal School, and are supported largely by annual appropriations from 
the Peabody fund. 

(4) Parish Teachers' Institutes of one week's duration required by 
law to be held under the auspices of parish superintendents of education. 

(5) Educational Associations, such as the annual convention of par- 
ish superintendents of education; the annual meeting of the State 
Teachers' Association; the monthly meetings of parish and city teach- 
ers' associations, all of which exert an influence in the direction of pro- 
fessionalizing the business of education. 

IV.— INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 

(1) The State Industrial Institute at Ruston, giving, free of charge, 
admirable instruction in English, science, mechanics, trades, occupations 
and industries to both sexes. 

(2) The Southwestern Industrial Institute, at Lafayette, is an insti- 
tution doing good work along the same lines. 

V.— PRIVATE AND SECTARIAN SCHOOLS. 

There are many of these for both sexes distributed through the State. 

VI.— EDUCATION OF THE COLORED. 

(1) Public schools in every town, city and parish. 

(2) Southern University for the higher and industrial training of 
negro youth. Much of what the State might do for negro education Is 
rendered unnecessary, owing to the large number of prosperous special 
institutions in our midst that are supported by endowment. 

INDUSTRIAL. 

The Southern Industrial University, located at Baton Rouge, under 
the management of Professor J. S. Clark, is doing splendid work. The 
president's courtesy under all circumstances has won for him and his in- 
stitution universal esteem and kindly consideration. Besides the good 
work of this university, there are several colored farm demonstrators, 
who seem to be greatly aiding their people along agricultural and in- 
dustrial lines. 



HO 




FIELD OF CORN IN CADDO PARISH 



III 





BLACK GUM OR SATIN WALNUT 



150 
PRIVATE AND SECTARIAN SCHOOLS 

BESIDES the various school systems enumerated, the different de- 
nominations of the State have splendid schools and colleges. The 
Methodists have a male college, "Centenary," at Shreveport, and a female 
college at Mansfield. The Baptists have a male college at Mt. Lebanon 
and a female college at Keatchie. The Catholics have a university and 
several colleges in New Orleans, Jefferson College at Convent, and St. 
Charles ollege at Grand Coteau. They have numerous convents in 
New Orleans and convents in other cities and towns of the State. The 
Silliman Female College at Clinton has long been a famous girls' school. 
Private schools are successfully conducted in New Orleans, Shreveport, 
Baton Rouge and other cities and towns of the State. 



TWO SPLENDID ADJUNCTS TO LOUISIANA'S 
EDUCATIONAL FORCES 

ATTENTION is called to Memorial Hall and the State Museum. 
The stranger, as he strolls up Camp street, New Orleans, is at- 
tracted by a peculiarly shaped building, whose inviting appearance bids 
him enter. He soon discovers that he is in the midst of historical re- 
minders that tell him of the glories of Louisiana, that point out a chiv- 
alry so transcendantly brilliant that it has left a glow that sheds a 
brightness over the State's entire after-life, impressing upon the younger 
generations the sublime principles of virtue and manhood, a combination 
which practically is the bulwark of every country's safety and happiness. 

From these relics or reminders of a superb inheritance housed by the 
generosity of a progressive citizen of New Orleans and cared for by 
State appropriations, he can cross Canal street, stroll among the quaint 
but interesting reminders of the French and Spanish domination and 
enter the historic Cabildo and Presbytere. 

To Curator Robert Glenk we are indebted for the following: 

"The Cabildo and the Presbytere both belong to the City of New 
Orleans, but have been transferred to the Board of Curators for all time 
by act of the City Council in 1908." 

The following is a description of the museum and its workings, given 
by Mr. Glenk to the Shreveport Times: 

One of the youngest of the State's institutions devoted to the advance- 
ment of Louisiana along educational and commercial' lines is the Lou- 
isiana State Museum at New Orleans. The Museum owes its origin 
to the splendid collection of exhibits made at the World's Fair in St. 
Louis in 1904, which at the close of the Fair were brought back and 
temporarily housed in the Washington Artillery Hall. Since then the 
collections have grown prodigiously, numbering at the present day over 
15,000 items and occupying 14,000 square feet of floor space. Within the 
past year, the City Council of New Orleans has transferred to the Board 
of Curators of the State Museum the historic Cabildo and the Civil Dis- 
trict Court buildings, facing Jackson Square, to permanently house the 
rapidly growing and valuable collections of the museum. The Cabildo 



151 

will contain the precious historical matter relating to Louisiana. In 
this building the transfer ceremonies itook place when Louisiana was 
ceded to the United States in 1S03 and during the visit of General La- 
fayette to New Orleans it was the home of the distinguished soldier. 
Being itself the most historical in the Mississippi Valley, it is eminently 
fitted to he the repository of the State's rich historical treasures. The 
Antommarchie bronze of Napoleon, presented to New Orleans in 1834 
by the physician of the distinguished Corsican, is one of the valuable 
relics. 

Recently the museum has acquired extremely valuable documents, 
letters, commissions, edicts and imprints of French and Spanish colo- 
nial Louisiana belonging to the Gaspar Cusacks, Major Robinson, T. P. 
Thompson, H. Gibbs Morgan, Jr., collections and to the Louisiana His- 
torical Society, U. S. Daughters of 1776-1812, and Dr. Joseph Jones. 
The museum also contains many maps of Louisiana, relics from the 
battlefield of Chalmette and Eugene Lami's famous picture of the Battle 
of New Orleans. 

The Art Department contains numerous paintings in oil and water, 
color, engravings, sculpture and ceramics by some of the best of Lou- 
isiana's artists. One of the most noteworthy of the museum's exhibits 
is the large and comprehensive collection of relics of the mound'- builders 
of Louisiana, embracing arrow points, axes, celts, ceremonial and game 
implements and pottery collected and loaned by Professor George Wil- 
liamson of Natchitoches. 

The Natural History Department contains specimens of the common 
and many rare varieties of the animals, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects, 
shells, fossils and minerals, and of the plants, trees and cultivated crops. 

The Commercial Department contains manufactured articles made in 
Louisiana, together with numerous working models, statistics and lit- 
erature and a complete model of a cane sugar factory, rice mill and 
pumping plant and a cotton oil mill. 

The museum contains one of the best libraries in the South on science, 
technology, commercial and trade statistics, and the Bureau of Infor- 
mation is at all times at the service of the public. 

During the winter months a series of free lectures are given by prom- 
inent lecturers at the museum on subjects dealing with the various 
activities of the several departments. 

A series of publications based upon a natural history survey of the 
State is contemplated by the Museum Board. The first number, by Pro- 
fessor R. S. Cocks, has been issued and will be mailed to applicants in 
the State free. 



152 




T 



ev 



153 
STATE INSTITUTIONS 

INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB. 

HIS INSTITUTION is located at Baton Rouge. The grounds and 
buildings are in excellent condition. Its financial showing, and 
verything pertaining to its management are all that could be desired. 
Its class departments, oral teaching and industrial instructions are con- 
ducted on both scientific and practical methods, and it has already sent 
out a number of expert and highly intelligent instructors and teachers 
from among its pupils. Its chief aim is to prepare its pupils for the af- 
fairs of life, and make them industrious and self-supporting citizens. 
Several industrial trades, such as furniture-making and wood-working, 
shoe-making and printing and typesetting, are taught with marked suc- 
cess, and it is hoped to further enlarge and extend these departments. 

INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND. 

Situated at Baton Rouge, th's institution does a great work in edu- 
cating and fitting for various walks in life the unfortunate ones whose 
sight is gone. 

Like the other institution referred to above, one of the chief aims of 
the Institute for the Blind is, and should be, not only to educate but to 
fit pupils for the ordinary affairs of life, and make them self-sustaining. 
When there is any aptitude whatever, music is taught, and many of the 
pupils have attained great proficiency upon several musical instruments 
Wicker and cane work are taught; also sewing, embroidery, etc., and 
the manufacture of brooms has become quite a factor in the industrial 
department. 

SOLDIERS' HOME. 

This institution is situated in New Orleans, and provides a home for 
the disabled veterans of the Civil War who fought on the Confederate 
side, and whose homes were in Louisiana. A commodious two-story 
building has been erected, which has added much to the comfort of the 
inmates. 

As time moves on, the lines of those who followed Lee, Johnston and 
Jackson are growing thinner, and from the active walks of life the 
number of those disabled and infirm, and without the means of support, 
is gradually increasing. These veterans of the Lost Cause appeal not 
only to our charity, love and benevolence, but also to our sense of jus- 
tice, and the State should always liberally provide for them, as care and 
want overtake them in their declining years. 

Article 302 of the present Constitution recognizes this Home as a 
State institution, and provides that it shall be maintained by the State 
by an annual appropriation which is to be based upon the number of 
inmates in the Home on the first day of April of the year in which the 
appropriation is made, of $130 per capita, for the maintenance and cloth- 
ing of such inmates. 



154 



INSANE ASYLUM. 

This institution, located at Jackson, La., stands preeminently as a 
monument to the true charity and benevolence and exalted humanity of 
our people. Its 1400 or more inmates are provided with a home, 
furnished with every modern convenience, presided over and directed by 
a superintendent and corps of assistants and attendants, who exercise 
kindly and even paternal supervision over them. They are supplied with 
abundant pure water for all purposes, ample baths, electric lights, arti- 
ficial heat, ice manufactured 'by the asylum, wholesome and abundant 
food, and healthful grounds and surroundings. Each individual inmate 
is made the object of investigation and study by the resident physician 
and his assistants, and as a result of skillful and painstaking treatment 
and attention, a very large percentage of the inmates are, from time to 
time, discharged as completely restored. If our people throughout the 
State could become more intimately acquainted with the details and 
management of this institution, the usual prejudice against it as a 
gloomy madhouse would be dispelled, and it would be seen to be what 
it is — a sanitarium and home for those suffering from disordered and 
diseased minds. It would be a revelation to those who have never vis- 
ited it, to observe the extent of its grounds, and the style and number 
of its handsome buildings, the completeness of its equipment, its scru- 
pulous cleanliness, and its picturesque and beautiful situation and sur- 
roundings. 

The Legislature, at its session in 1902, passed an act providing for 
the building and establishing of another Hospital for the Insane, near 
Alexandria, funds were appropriated and the work begun at once. At the 
extra session of the Legislature in 1903, another appropriation was made 
to complete the buildings, and, like the Hospital for the Insane at Jack- 
son, it is doing thorough work and is an institution that all Louisianians 
are proud of. 

CHARITY HOSPITAL, NEW ORLEANS. 

This hospital was situated in the City of New Orleans, and was estab- 
lished in 1832, being among the first free hospitals ever established in the 
United States. 

How well its obligation to humanity is performed is attested by the 
records of this institution. The hospital grounds embrace two squares, 
with ambulance house situated in a third square. The Richard Milliken 
Memorial Annex for Children has been recently built, and is thorough 
and modern in every appointment. The Pasteur Department, which is 
also free, was added in 1903. 

Year by year, through the State's bounty, and with the assistance of 
donations from her philanthropic citizens, modern new buildings and 
equipments have been added, until our hospital stands among those at 
the head of the list of such institutions upon this continent. 

Its able board of administrators and officers, and skilled and ex- 
perienced surgeons and physicians have for years past maintained its 
well-established reputation, and more deeply rooted this institution in 
the hearts of all our people. 



155 




SAWMILL AT TAFT, ST. CHARLES PARISH 




A SUGAR MILL IN ST. CHARLES PARISH 



156 



SHREVEPORT CHARITY HOSPITAL. 

Situated at Shreveport, Louisiana, is another hospital, whose char- 
ita'ble and benevolent work has spread wide all over Louisiana. A very 
modern four-room brick aseptic operating building- has been erected 
and furnished with the latest and most approved parapnernalia and 
appurtenances. This has grown to be one of the fixed State institu- 
tions of north Louisiana, and its successful conduct, and the humane, 
skillful and scientific treatment of the indigent sick, and those requiring 
surgical attention, have grounded it deep in the affections" of our people. 
It also affords the opportunity of splendid training and practical ex- 
pedience to young men pursuing the study of medicine and surgery. 

STATE PENITENTIARY AND CONVICT FARMS. 

The Legislature, at its session of 1890, passed an act carrying into 
effect the provision of the new Constitution, which prohibited any form 
of leasing State prisoners and directed that they be employed under 
absolute State control. It was determined to continue the work of State 
building only in so far as it could be furnished for such work, first-class 
men, graded physically, and employ the rest in agriculture. For this 
latter purpose, Angola plantation, embracing 8,000 acres of splendid 
alluvial land, on the Mississippi River, in West Feliciana Parish, and 
Hope plantation, a sugar estate of some 2,800 acres, on Bayou Teche, 
Iberia Parish, were purchased. These farms have now been in operation 
for several years, and the results are most gratifying. Cotton is the 
money crop raised on Angola and sugar on Hope. Another farm, Oak- 
ley, has been purchased in Iberville Parish, and is now equipped as a 
penal farm. 

The crops sold and proceeds of levee work have brought in good 
revenues, besides the agricultural product such as corn, potatoes, onions, 
etc., preserved for prison use, which aggregate a large value. The sys- 
tem now pays its own expenses of operation, and affords a surplus to 
complete payments on property purchased. 

The small factory at the Baton Rouge Penitentiary supplies the 
force with shoes and clothing. 

There have been constructed on these farms permanent quarters on 
the most approved sanitary lines. The prisoners are compelled to work, 
according to their strength, but they are provided with the best quality 
t)f food, all they can eat, including an abundance of vegetables, and are 
well clothed and humanely treated. 

The late lamented Hon. S. M. Jones, at that time Mayor of Toledo, 
Ohio, known over the United States as "Golden Rule" Jones, after a 
recent visit to Hope convict farm, wrote an article for one of the leading 
journals of the East, and among other things said: 

"I have felt, because a great mass of the convicts of the South have 
been worked at outdoor employment, that if they were badly treated 
they were not in the long run as badly off as our convicts in the North, 
who are contracted out to work in dingy, ill-ventilated and disease- 
breeding shops, where they are doomed to breathe poisoned air and 
almost entirely shut out from eyer seeing a ray of sunshine. I was, 
however, quite unprepared to find that the State of Louisiana has taken 
a step in the matter of dealing with convicted human beings that easily 
places her a century ahead of the methods in common practice in the 
ordinary prisons North and South." 



AS OTHERS SEE US 

PROFESSOR HILGARD. in his preliminary report of a Geological 
Survey of Western Louisiana, remarks: "Few sections of the 
United States, indeed, can offer such inducements to settlers as the 
prairie region between the Mississippi Bottoms, the Nez Pique and Mer- 
mentau. Healthier -by far than the prairies of the Northwest, fanned 
by the sea breeze, well watered — the scarcity of wood rendered of less 
moment by the blandness of the climate, and the extraordinary rapidity 
with which natural hedges can be grown for fences, while the exuber- 
antly fertile soil produces both sugar cane and cotton in profusion, con- 
tinuing to do so in many cases after seventy years' exhaustive cultiva- 
tion. Well may the Teche country be styled, by its enthusiastic inhab- 
itants, the 'Garden of L-ouisiana.' " 

One of the largest and most intelligent farmers in central Illinois, 
after a careful examination of the Teche and Attakapas country, said: 

"I have heretofore thought that central Illinois was the finest farming 
country in the world. I own a large farm there, with improvements 
equal to any in the country. I cultivate about two thousand acres in 
small grain, besides other crops; but since I have seen the Teche and 
Attakapas country, I do not see how any man who has seen this country 
can be satisfied to live in Illinois. 

"I find that I can raise everything in Louisiana that can be raised 
in Illinois, and that I can raise a hundred things there which cannot 
be raised in Illinois. I find the lands easier worked in Louisiana, infin- 
itely richer and yielding far more, and with the fairest climate on earth, 
and no trouble to get to market. I shall return to Illinois, sell out, and 
persuade my neighbors to do the same, and return to Louisiana to spend 
the remainder of my days." 

The editor of the Chicago Tribune, after visiting the Teche country, 
said to his 50,000 subscribers: "If, by some supreme effort of Nature, 
Western Louisiana, with its soil, climate and production, could be taken 
up and transported north to the latitude of Illinois and Indiana, and 
be there set down in the pathway of Eastern travel, it would create a 
commotion that would throw the discovery of gold in California in the 
shade at the time of the greatest excitement. The people would rush 
to it in countless thousands. Every man would be intent on securing a 
few acres of these wonderfully .productive and profitable sugar plains. 
These Teche lands, if in Illinois, would bring from three to five hundred 
dollars per acre." 

Robert Ridgeway, formerly of Indiana, now of Louisiana, said: "Too 
much cannot be said in praise of Louisiana. I And, at least, from per- 
sonal observation, that Louisiana possesses to a most wonderful degree, 
great opportunities for making money, and a young man with any get- 
up about him, with only a little money, or even nothing but his energy, 
can, in a few years, make a fortune as an agriculturist alone. There 
is no country on earth that has any greater advantage than Louisiana. 

"We have twelve months working season, and products for the year 
round. In the North and West we can labor only part of the year, and 
during the other three months they have to consume or eat up what they 
have laid by — not so here — Louisiana offers most wonderful advantages 
for the enterprising man to come and take hold of. There has been 



l.'.s 




159 



much said of Louisiana, of her 'benefits and advantages, by tongues 
more flowery than mine, but I will say that the whole has not been told." 

J. H. Keyser, of Bellevue, Bossier, Parish, La., formerly of Pennsyl- 
vania, said: "I traveled, years ago, portions of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Iowa and Michigan, and spent my early life in Pennsylvania, and have 
been living since 1870 in Bossier Parish, La., and, taking everything 
into consideration, I believe a man can live with as much comfort and 
enjoyment in Louisiana as in any other State of the Union. The people 
are kind, generous and hospitable, and rarely intermeddle with the po- 
litical or religious opinions of any one. The great need of the State is 
immigrants to fill up her waste places, that only need proper culture to 
produce in abundance. 

"And the State and its capabilities only need to be made known gen- 
erally to attract immigration, and the time is not far distant when Lou- 
isiana will be recognized as among the first States of the Union." 

J. M. Howell, of Lafourche, La., formerly of Mississippi, says: "Dur- 
ing my residence in Louisiana of twenty-five years, from personal obser- 
vation, I find that the laws are as fairly and impartially administered 
here as in any other State in the Union. My observations lead me to 
believe that, without regard to race, sex or former conditions, that no- 
where in the United States are the laws more impartially administered 
than here in this State." 

W. J. Ornett, formerly of Michigan, said: "I left Michigan on March 
IS', 1888, for the South, and landed in the city of -Natchitoches 'one week 
later. When I left Michigan there was plenty of snow and ice, and when 
I arrived in Natchitoches I found things altogether different. There 
was plenty of grass for stock, the fruit trees had bloomed, and garden 
vegetables of all kinds were growing, and flowers all ready to bloom, 
and, if I remember right, some had bloomed. 

"Ladies, why stay at the North and burn fifty dollars' worth of wood 
to keep a few flowers from freezing, when you can come South and have 
them bloom nine months in the year, and have them outdoors, and then 
you can have your early vegetables all through April. Just think of it! 
And, let me tell you, I ate some as fine dewberries as I ever ate in my 
life in the last week in April, and you people that were in the North 
were shivering around the fire. I think fruit of most any kind will grow 
here in abundance. There is soil to be found adapted to most everything, 
and excellent soil, too; and the climate, so far as I have experienced it, 
is very nice. It did not affect me disagreeably so far. I think, if any- 
thing, it has benefited me, as I have gained several pounds in weight; 
and in regard to the reception I received from the people, I must say 
that it was better than I expected. I find them pleasant and hospitable 
in every way. There is a variety of openings, plenty for all classes; 
plenty of fine farming lands, both improved and unimproved, to be had 
cheap, and plenty of timber of all kinds; fine chance for stock raising 
as you need to feed for so short a time during the year that the ex • 
pense is small compared to where you feed six months in the year. 
There is opening for a cotton factory, oil mill, furniture factory, grist 
mill, banks, hotels, photographers, and other too numerous to mention." 



1G0 



Professor S. A. Knapp, says: "It would be necessary to take the 
prairies of Iowa, the rugged timber lands of Maine, and the entire delta 
of the Nile, twist them together, and thrust through them the Amazon 
to produce another Louisiana." 

Started Without a Dollar. 

"I came to the United States from Germany, landing in the City of 
New Orleans, State of Louisiana, in the month of September, 1S69. I 
came to Clinton, East Feliciana Parish, La., from there same year; re- 
mained here one year and worked on the farm; then left and went to 
Illinois, traveling over three Northern States. I was gone from her© 
about ten months. I soon came to the conclusion thai this country 
offered better opportunity for men in the financial condition I was in 
than the North or Northwest. I returned here and commenced railroad- 
ing, following that for five or six years. I then purchased me a home, 
where I now live; first bought 75 acres. I now own 378 acres, for which 
I would not accept $6,000 cash. I live on what I make on my place, ex- 
cept flour and rice This I could grow. I have made one bale of cotton 
per acre, and from 40 to 50 bushels of corn per acre. This* land will 
grow as fine grapes as can be grown anywhere. All kinds of garden 
stuff grows here, and some of them can be grown two crops in a year. 
I can grow two fine crops of sweet potatoes. Any person can come 
and locate here and make a living at home and pay for the house at. 
the same time. I commenced here without a dollar, and I have raised a 
large family and have plenty around me, such as horses, mules, cattle 
and hogs, and such othe'- things as belong to a "farm. 

I can recommend these lands to any person wanting to gain for him- 
self a home. I know of many other Germans who have come here in 
the same condition I was in and today own good houses. The same 
things any person can do here who will come and try. 

THOMAS AQLL. 

Raises All His Supplies. 

This is to certify that I came to the Parish of East Feliciana in the 
year 1866 and have lived here and have been engaged in farming since 
that time. I have raised all of my work stock and everything needed to 
supply my farm. During this entire time I have never had to incur any 
debt, as there was always a demand for my surplus of corn, molasses, 
hay, chickens and eggs, to settle in cash for what my family needed, 
leaving my cotton crop each year as a surplus. One year my family 
made and gathered 30 bales of cotton, 750 bushels of corn, 200 gallons of 
molasses, 75 bushels of potatoes, and house all the hay needed for my 
stock, and sold $75.00 worth of hay. Besides making all of my lard, 
bacon and hams, I sold $75.00 worth of fresh meat, and my boys made, 
after my crop was harvested, $250.00 on the sugar farm, which they now 
have on hand. This is a healthy country and offers fine inducement to 
any man willing to work and who has any idea of management. 

GEORGE ANDERSON. 



lfn 




162 



THE UNTOLD TREASURES OF LOUISIANA 

(From the National Magazine) 
BY GARNAULT AGASSIZ. 

BEFORE THE WAR, Louisiana, from an agricultural standpoint, 
was in many respects the banner state of the" Union. Her great 
plantations were the pride of the nation. Rich beyond her needs in her 
resources of cotton and sugar, secure in her feudal system of labor, 
prosperous to a degree, she neither invited nor needed to invite capital 
or labor to her shores. 

Some idea of her prosperity can be gained from the fact that many 
of her alluvial lands, valued today at from twenty-five to fifty dollars 
an acre, were then held in reserve for from a hundred to two hundred; 
indeed, it is estimated that sixty per cent more lands in the alluvial 
parishes were under cultivation then than now. 

NO YELLOW FEVER NOW. 

Fifteen years ago yellow fever might have been a legitimate factor 
in keeping people from Louisiana, for it is an incontrovertible fact that 
New Orleans, as a port of entry for tropical Central America, was sub- 
ject to intermittent epidemics of this disease, just as New York or Bos- 
ton, without rigid quarantine measures, would be subject to outbreaks 
of cholera or the bubonic plague. Sanitary conditions in New Orleans, 
however, have changed radically in the past ten years; the old open 
sewers have been superseded by a modern drainage system, adequate 
quarantine laws have been introduced, and general health conditions 
have been materially improved. New Orleans has not had a single 
case of yellow fever for more than seven years — and scientists say she 
will never have another, for in the past decade, from an unknown 
dreaded disease, this ailment has become a treatable and preventable 
malady, easily confined to certain limits. The medical conquest of the 
tropics constitutes one of the most remarkable .scientific accomplish- 
ments of all time. 

THE FACTOR SYSTEM. 

But the one factor more than any other that was responsible for 
Louisiana's slow growth was the pernicious factor system, with its at- 
tendant negro-tenant and one-crop features. The war freed the Lou- 
isiana bondsman, it is true, but it made a veritable slave of many of 
the free men, slaves to a system of monetary servitude that prevented 
Louisiana from occupying- her merited position in the vanguard of the 
world's agriculture for nearly half a century. 

Under the obnoxious factor system, the factor asrreed to advance 
a planter enough money to rcake his crop on condition that he would 
devote so many acres of his farm to the cultivation of cotton, sugar 
or rice, as the case might be, and designate him as his broker in the 
marketing of the crop. This sounded all very well. The money was 
turned over, the.cmp was irr.de. the harvest was abundant — for a time 
the factor seemed to be a philanthropist indeed. Then came the day of 
reckoning. The New York bank said to the New Orleans bank, "Pay"; 
the New Orleans bank said to the country bank. "Pay"; the country 



163 



bank said to the factor, "Pay"; the factor said to the planter, "Pay." 
And all he could do was to sell his crop, irrespective of market condi- 
tions or his hopes of the future. 

A good crop and a bad year, a strange anomaly. But the planter 
has grown only one crop, perhaps on the negro tenant basis. He has 
purchased his mules in Missouri or Texas, his corn in Illinois or In- 
diana, his oats in Kansas or Iowa, his own provisions in almost every 
state of the Union. The day of settlement finds him literally a bank- 
rupt — the only hope of the tomorrow, the factor and another year. 

That hope of the tomorrow, the factor and another year, held good 
for more than forty years, and it might have held good for forty mbre 
had not Nature herself intervened — Nature in the shape of the intrepid 
boll weevil who, in his forced march from Mexico, camped with his 
legions on the snow-white cotton fields of Louisiana, and, in a single 
night, as it were, undermined the whole industrial fabric of the state. 

For a time things looked desperate indeed to the Louisiana cotton 
planter, but just as water finds its own level, so man, failing in one 
direction, inevitably courts success in another — and the direction taken 
by the Louisiana planter was one that spelt not only salvation to him, 
but pointed him to a greater success than he had ever dared to dream. 
That road was diversified farming. 

DIVERSIFICATION. 

What diversified farming has done for the Louisiana planter needs 
no recital. It is what it has done for the planter everywhere who de- 
pended for his success on one staple crop. When the boll weevil made 
its appearance in Louisiana, the state's corn crop was less than a quar- 
ter of a million bushels; last year it was fifty-eight million, and next 
year it promises to reach seventy-five million bushels. And what is 
true of corn is true also of oats, wheat, rye and every other staple crop. 

Two or more crops can 'be grown anywhere in Louisiana, and in 
some sections, under favorable conditions, three and four. The two 
most widely grown crops are potatoes and peanuts; oats and sweet 
potatoes, oats and June corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, and in every case 
cowpeas, velvet beans, or some other self-nitrogenous crop can be sown 
in the corn. Throughout North and Middle Louisiana there are many 
large farms that would do credit to Illinois or Indiana, farms that are 
conducted on the most improved scientific lines, that employ the very 
latest machinery, and that return a dividend on the investment that to 
the average Northern farmer would seem incredible. In a majority of 
instances, these farms are absolutely self-sustaining, raising everything 
that is required for their maintenance, and breeding their own horses 
and mules. These large farms raise chiefly oats, corn, cotton, wheat, 
Irish and sweet potatoes, lespedeza, Bermuda and other hays, truck 
live stock and poultry. 

AN ILLUSTRATION OF WHAT ONE FARM CAN DO 
WITH DIVERSIFIED CROPS. 

As an illustration of what a Louisiana farm is of under 

intelligent management and scientific crop rotation might be mentioned 
the splendid plantation of J. H. and R. W. Boisseau, of Shreveport. 
This farm has 1100 acres under cultivation. Up to a few years ago it 



164 




165 



was essentially a cotton plantation, over 1100 acres being under cultiva- 
tion to the cotton plant and 100 acres in corn constituting the factotum 
of everything else raised. Then came the boll weevil, with its demand 
for changed conditions. Unlike many other Louisiana planters at the 
time, the Boisseau brothers were not so discouraged with the future 
as to neglect their farm entirely or lease it out on a profit-sharing 
basis to negro tenants. They foresaw that new conditions called for 
new methods, and with this resolve in view prepared to enter the field 
of diversified farming on an elaborate scale. And the resuks have 
been all that could have been desired. Last year this plantation culti- 
vated: 300 acres of alfalfa, yielding four to six tons an acre, valued 
at $13 to $25 a ton, conditioned on the season and market; 200 acres 
of oats, yielding without fertilizer, from 40 to 85 bushels an acre, the 
yield being conditioned on the time of planting; 25 acres of wheat, 
yielding 25 bushels to the acre; 300 acres of cotton, averaging nearly a 
bale to the acre; twenty acres of peanuts, and a large acreage of pas- 
turage and truck. 

This farm maintained, in addition to its 200 work animals, nearly all 
home raised, some 300 head of cattle, 500 graded hogs, a large number 
of sheep, some poultry, and shipped something every working day in 
the year. Its gross income was $7S,000, of which $25,000 was clear profit. 
Not a bad return on the investment! 

WHAT IS CLAIMED BY A TOWN. 

The little town of Mansura, in Avoyelles Parish, is another concrete 
example of the success of diversified farming in Louisiana. In 1908, 
when this town depended on the one-crop system for its upbuilding, 
marketing about 4000 bales of cotton a year, its only bank had total 
deposits of $52,000. In the fall of 1910 only a thousand bales of cotton 
were sold in the town, but diversified farming had so enriched the sur- 
rounding country that the deposits of that bank had increased to $102,- 
000, in spite of the fact that five other banks had been established in the 
parish in the interim. 

* * * * 

CORN RAISING. 

"With the farmer beginning to appreciate more and more the great 
possibilities of intelligent corn culture, Louisiana is fast taking a rank- 
ing position among the leading corn states of the country. And this is 
as it should be, for in the general scheme of diversified farming, corn 
is unquestionably the most important unit. The yield is being steadily 
increased, not by fertilization alone, but by deep plowing, adequate culti- 
vation and a systematic rotation of crops. 

Nothing is more important to the corn grower than the question of 
deep plowing. Under the old three-inch method of plowing, the yield 
for the whole state was less than 12 bushels to the acre, while 25 
bushels was a splendid average for even the most productive soil. Deep 
plowing has increased the yield, irrespective of conditions, wherever 
tried. This has been remarkably demonstrated by a Louisiana farmer, 
who this year, by plowing to a uniform depth of six inches, raised 70 
bushels of corn to the acre on two acres of ground that under the old 
method of plowing had never been known to yield more than 2 5 bushels 



166 



to the acre. And he used no fertilizer whatsoever. Next year this 
farmer intends to plow up ten acres to a depth of one foot, accomplish- 
ing this with a 6 -inch disc plow and a 6 -inch subsoiler. 

In speaking of corn-raising in Louisiana, one cannot lose sight of 
the splendid work being accomplished by the Boys' Corn Clubs, an 
important branch of the United States Department of Agriculture's 
Farm Demonstration Bureau, which is doing such a noble work in up- 
lifting Southern agriculture. There are now 42 individual corn clubs 
in the state, with a total enrollment of 3,875 members, Louisiana laying 
claim, by the way, to the boy, in Stephen Henry, of Melrose, near 
Natchitoches, who, by "making" 139.45 bushels of corn to the acre, at 
a cost of 13.6 cents a bushel, not only won the Department of Agricul- 
ture's grand prize, but established beyond dispute the peculiar advan- 
tages of Louisiana soil for corn culture. 



WHEAT AND OATS. 

Wheat and oats are two ether staple crops that are finding each year 
more favor with the modern Louisiana farmer as integral urits in the 
scheme of diversification, this being true especially in the northern and 
middle sections of the state. And with good reason. Either of these 
grains can be planted from the first of September to the first of No- 
vember and provide a splendid pasturage for cattle from late autumn 
until the first of April without any deterioration to the growing grain. 
Wheat will produce 20 to 30 bushels and oats from 30 to 90 bushels to 
the acre, and be followed by peas, peanuts, soy or other beans, sweet 
potatoes, sorghum, kaffir corn, milo maize, or June corn. An Arcadia, 
Bienville Parish, farmer this year harvested 85 bushels to the acre on 
fifty contiguous acres. He followed his oats by peanuts, which as a 
second crop practically represent a clear profit. 

Louisiana's 50,000 acres of oats yield approximately a million bushels 
a year. The yield of wheat is inconsiderable at present, hardly com- 
putable, but the acreage is being increased yearly, due chiefly to the 
success attained by the Department of Agriculture in the acclimation of 
a seed well suited to the particular needs of the state. 



IRISH POTATOES. 

Irish potatoes constitute another important unit in the general 
scheme of modern farming, it being quite possible in Louisiana to raise 
two good crops on the same ground annually, the second at little ex- 
pense, as additional fertilizer is rarely necessary, and the small pota- 
toes from the first crop serve as seed for the second. 

The first crop is planted in January and February and harvested in 
M"ay; the second in the latter part of July and the beginning of August 
and harvested in late autumn. 

Irish potatoes bring from $60 to $175 a car for the spring crop, 
while the fall crop sells as a rule at from $75 to $200, the higher price 
being conditioned to some extent on the larger home demand. 



Hi? 




HAULING SEED COTTON TO KILLO'DEN GIN 




LA NANA SCHOOLHOUSE, IN SABINE PARISH 



168 



The profit in Irish potatoes in conjunction with some other crop is 
well illustrated bj the experience of Benjamin Gray, an up-to-date 
farmer in the famous Red River Valley, who last year made more than 
a hundred dollars an acre on ten acres of land from this source. This 
was accomplished as follows: He harvested 868 bushels of Irish pota- 
toes, for which he received $1.10 tc $1.15 a bushel, or about 77 cents 
net when freight and commissions had been deducted. On the same 10 
acres he later harvested 610 bushels of peanuts, for which he received 
$140 net, and 23 tons of peanut hay, which returned him $12 to $11 a ton. 

And the potato crop, owing to climatic conditions, was an unusually 
short one. 

At the present time Louisiana imports no small proportion of her 
potato supply, which means that the Louisiana farmer has the local 
market to fall back upon when conditions in the higher-priced Northern 
and Western markets are not favorable. 



PEANUTS. 

In this scheme of diversification, peanuts also occupy an important 
role, for no state in the Union, net excepting the greatest of all peanut 
states, Virginia, combines in a happier manner the peculiar requisite to 
peanut growth. And as peanuts in Louisiana, as in all the far Southern 
states, can be grown as a second crop to potatoes, oats or wheat, peanut 
culture would seem to be a more profitable venture in the Pelican than 
in the Old Dominion State. 

And it is a crop that requires no great investment of capital. A man 
and two mules can cultivate with ease from fifty to sixty acres .of pea- 
nuts, which should yield from forty to sixty bushels an acre, with an 
average price of about $1.00 a bushel, not to mention the high-grade 
hay, which in itself is said to pay for the seed, cultivation and harvest- 
ing of the crop. The present state average, it is true, is only 15 bushels 
to the acre, but this is due to poor cultivation, inadequate fertilization, 
and a lack of diversification, for crop rotation is one of the chief essen- 
tials in successful paying culture. 

Peanut hay will yield from a ton to a ton and a half an acre, worth 
according to the conditions of market from $15 to $18 a ton. Most 
farmers think it more advisable to make the hay with the pea still on 
the vine, feeling that the increase in the value of hay will more than 
counterbalance the attendant loss, just as many of the more up-to-date 
consider it wiser if the peanut itself is harvested, to plough the vines 
under for the enrichment of the soil. 

The Louisiana peanut, which at present is the Spanish variety ex- 
clusively, although all varieties, with the exception of the Virginia, will 
do well, finds its chief uses today in the peculiarly high-grade oil which 
is extracted from it, in the manufacture of peanut butter and salted 
peanuts, and as a staple article of diet for the stock farm. Peanut fac- 
tories, controlled for the most part by Virginia corporations, are now- 
located at Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish, the largest peanut-raising 
parish in the state, Shreveport and other points in north Louisiana, so 
that the farmer who wants to grow peanuts on a commercial scale has 
a good market at his very door. There is no peanut oil factory in the 



169 



state at the present time, 'but as the Spanish peanut will average more 
than a gallon of high-grade oil to the bushel, there would seem to be 
no reason why an oil factory would not be a paying investment. 

But it will be more for a food for live stock, especially hogs, that the 
progressive Louisiana farmer will cultivate the peanut. In this con- 
nection it may be said that there is no 'better or more economical diet 
for hogs, for not only does the peanut produce a meat of a peculiarly 
distinctive flavor, as witness the famous Smithfield ham, hut the ex- 
pense of feeding the hogs in the regular way is almost done away with, 
as they are allowed to root for their own living. In a recent experiment, 
indeed, the State Department of Agriculture cleared $50 an acre from 
hogs raised in this way. As a rule, however, the farmer finds it better 
to give a ten-day diet of corn before slaughtering, as the corn imparts a 
tenacity to the flesh that it would not otherwise have. 



SWEET POTATOES. 

In the hill country of middle north Louisiana, that portion of the 
state which is embraced by the Red and Ouachita Rivers, an area ap- 
proximately of ten thousand square miles, sweet potatoes can be grown 
to better advantage, perhaps, than in any other portion of the United 
States, for not only are these sweet potatoes of an especially good 
variety, 'but they will yield from $200 to $500 an acre, depending on the 
methods of cultivation and crop conditions. And as with peanuts, sweet 
potatoes are a second crop. 

STOCK RAISING. 

Still another industry that is rapidly becoming an important unit 
in this new era of diversified farming is the raising of live stock. Lou- 
isiana has been a great cattle-raising country since the day of her set- 
tlement, her vast prairies, which until the coming of the white man, 
were black with buffalo, having been the home of as picturesque and 
as unique a cattle industry as can be found in the United States. 

But it is to the stock farm more than the range that Louisiana will 
have to look for the future upbuilding of this industry. In this con- 
nection it can be said that no state in the Union is better adapted to 
the raising of high-grade stock. The natural pasturage to be found 
anywhere in the state alone will provide for the yearly sustenance of 
from one to five head of stock to the acre, while on cultivated pastur- 
ages, such as oats, wheat, velvet beans, cow peas and other legumes, 
from five to ten head can be fed. 

Nothing is more important to the stockgrower than good pasturage. 
In this respect Louisiana is especially well endowed. Her native grasses 
embrace white and red clover, timothy, beggarweed, Bermuda and other 
of the chief domestic varieties, while such exotics as alfalfa and lespe- 
deza grow to splendid advantage in every section of the state. Cow- 
peas and velvet 'beans also grow luxuriously, and, both being nitroge- 
nous plants, assist materially in enriching the soil. Cowpeas are planted 
principally for hay, although every farmer retains enough seed for the 
following year's planting, as they are an annual crop and grow only 
from the seed. 



170 



Lespedeza, a member of the legume family, and a native of Japan, is 
finding greater favor in Louisiana than alfalfa, and alfalfa will grow 
in Louisiana as well as anywhere, and it will not only yield from two 
to three cuttings a year with an average of a ton to an acre, but one 
planting will last from three to four years. It might last very much 
longer were it not for the fact that after the fourth year volunteer 
grasses and weeds as a rule spring up to such an extent as to preclude 
its sale as a high-grade hay. Lespedeza, too, is a nitrogenous self- 
fertilizer, and is said to bring the land in the three or four years of its 
life up to a high state of fertility for the cultivation of staple crops. 

Lespedeza is sown broadcast in oats or wheat when they are 12 to 14 
inches high, this time being selected as all danger of a killing frost has 
passed, young lespedeza being very susceptible to cold. Oats are har- 
vested May 25, and the first cutting of lespedeza occurs a month later. 
Lespedeza, like cowpeas and velvet beans, is also a nitrogenous self- 
fertilizer. 

Another branch of the live stock industry that is annually receiving 
more attention from the progressive Louisiana planter is the raising of 
mules. This is almost a departure for Louisiana, but it is a departure 
of tremendous importance not only to the planter himself, but to the 
state at large. A 3-year-old mule is worth anywhere from $200 to $300; 
it can be raised for $25. This means a saving to the farmer and to the 
state of at least $200 on every home-bred mule employed on the farm, 
and some of t'he larger planters utilize from 300 to 500 head. The mare 
that is used for raising mules on the larger Louisiana plantations is a 
common working mare. This represents a great saving, also, as she can 
be worked within a few days of foaling time and ten days after and raise 
a colt every year. 

Sheep, too, can be raised very profitably throughout Louisiana, par- 
ticularly in the cutover pine lands, which afford splendid ranges — ranges 
that on account of Louisiana's equable climate are available all the year 
round. While all breeds do well, the native sheep thrive better than 
any other kind, for being acclimated they require less attention, and 
consequently are more profitable to raise. 

At Lake Providence, in East Carroll Parish, a beautiful old trading 
post on the Mississippi, sheep-raising is a very important and profitable 
industry, as it is also in Calcasieu, Cameron, Winn, Ouachita, and a 
number of other parishes. 



SUGAR CANE: ITS PLANTING AND VARIOUS PROCESSES 

THROUGH WHICH ITS MANUFACTURE IN SUGAR 

IS ACCOM PLIH ED. 

Sugar was first made in Louisiana in 1795, though sugar cane had 
been grown in various parts of the state before the Revolution for the 
manufacture of syrup and rum, the sugar cane having been introduced 
into Louisiana in 1751 by the Jesuit Fathers from San Domingo, where 
their confreres had built up quite a considerable industry. 

The cane grew well, but all attempts to manufacture sugar from it 
were abortive, and it was not until 1791 that Don Antonio Mendez 



171 




172 



succeeded in extracting' sugar from cane. Three years later Etienne de 
Bore made such a large crop of sugar that many were induced to go 
into the industry, and it is to him that the real credit of being the 
father of the industry belongs. 

In common with all industries in the experimental stage, the sugar 
cane industry of Louisiana was at its inception a very crude and unim- 
portant one, both as to its cultural and manufacturing methods and the 
insignificance of its annual output, but as the progressive planter, real- 
izing its future possibilities, abandoned indigo entirely and to some ex- 
tent cotton to sugar cane, it commenced to enjoy a period of steady 
growth, until in 1820 the crop approximated some 20,000,000 pounds of 
sugar. 

From 1820 the industry developed rapidly, due entirely to the fore- 
sight and intelligence of the planter, who by the application of im- 
proved cultural and manufacturing methods placed himself in a position 
to compete successfully with his great tropical rivals, Barbados and 
Cuba. 

The Louisiana planter has always been a potent factor in the devel- 
opment of the state, distinctive in his type and representative of her 
best class of citizenship, and he has been ever ready to introduce any 
innovation, no matter how expensive, that would promote the welfare of 
the industry and the welfare of the state. This is well illustrated by 
the fact that while the steam mill was a rarity in the United States up 
to 1840, steam began to supersede the horse in the larger Louisiana 
sugar plants nearly twenty years before, in 1830 no less than half the 
mills in the state being operated by it. 

From the first year or two of its adoption, steam was used only as 
the source of power in the grinding of the cane, but about 1824 the 
planters commenced to use it in the actual boiling of the syrup. This 
marked the invention of the vacuum pan, which is the technical term 
for boiling the syrup in vacuo, i. e., below the normal pressure of the 
air. This new method of boiling the syrup was a great improvement 
over the old open kettle method, as the heat could be regulated, thus 
causing a great deal of loss from inversion, inversion being the chemical 
change from sucrose to glucose. 

Under the old method, a large proportion of the saccharine content 
of the juice was inverted into glucose, and although a superior molasses 
was obtained — known as open kettle molasses, and commanding a great 
premium over the molasses obtained under the now method of boiling — 
the increase of sugar, calculated at 156 pounds for the vacuum pan as 
against 92 pounds for the open kettle, more than counterbalanced the 
difference. 

The revolutionizing discovery of Isaac Watts having been applied 
with success to the industry, the enterprising planter, not content to 
derive only the one-eighth power value from his steam that comes 
from a single effect, now turned his attention to the problem of how 
to secure a larger proportion of the theoretical value of his fuel — a 
problem which the engineers of the world were lending their best efforts 
to solve. Various solutions, such as heating the water with the exhaust 
steam, heating rooms with it. and utilizing it in devious directions, 
were suggested, but it remained for a Louisiana cane operative to find, 



173 

in what is Known the world over as the multiple effect, the real solu- 
tion to this all-important problem. This Louisianian was an octoroon 
by the name of Robert Rilleux, a free man of color, who had been edu- 
cated by his sponsor as an engineer in one of the greatest educational 
institutions of France, and who had ability far beyond his day and 
race. Rilleux's invention was introduced in 1830. The multiple effect 
consists of the utilization of the vapor of the same steam in concurrent 
effects, the vacuum and temperature being lower on each effect, the 
latter falling from 200 to as low as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. 

From 1S30 to 1844, when the annual output was more than double 
that of the year previous, the industry enjoyed a regular growth, and 
from then until the Civil War, when in common with other Southern 
industries it was entirely obliterated, an era of prosperity that even in 
these days would have been considered remarkable, in 1854, nearly 500,- 
000,000 pounds of sugar being produced, an output that was not sur- 
passed until 1906. 

The war dealt a stunning blow to the sugar industry, and it was many 
years before economic conditions had so adjusted themselves as to war- 
rant a comprehensive rehabilitation. 

The real dawn of the present industry may be said to date from 1882, 
the year that gave birth to the centralized plant. Up to this time the 
industry had been prosecuted in a crude way, both as to its agricultural 
and manufacturing methods, the planter seldom knowing the actual cost 
of his operations. 

The centralized plant changed all this. Its operator was as a rule a 
big planter of the old school, who recognized that sugar could be manu- 
factured successfully only by the most improved methods, and the prac- 
tice of the most rigid economy. Thus he not only improved his lands 
by an intelligent rotation of crops, but he cultivated and fertilized them 
more thoroughly than had been the custom, and eliminated every possi- 
ble source of waste. He began, too, to compute the amount of sugar 
that could be manufactured from a ton of cane, something never before 
attempted in the sugar industry, the effect of this being that in the last 
thirty years he has increased the yield of sugar to the ton by over 50 
per cent. 

Very few people have even the remotest idea of the great investment 
that a sugar plantation represents. The average large sugar planter pays 
out in wages alone from $100,000 to $250,000 annually, and labor is not by 
any means the only factor of expense in the operation of a sugar plan- 
tation. There is the machinery bill, fertilizer bill, the maintenance of 
the railroad — a cardinal requisite to every up-to-date plantation — and 
last but not least the sugar factory. A good sugar factory will cost any- 
where from $150,000 to $600,000, and will have to be almost entirely re- 
newed every ten to fifteen years. 

More than three-quarters of the year idle, the depreciation of the ma- 
chinery and the plant is greater when idle than when in active opera- 
tion. Then there is the repairing of the machinery— $8,000 to $15,000 a 
year is no uncommon figure for this. 

One ten thousand acre plantation in Lafourche Parish might be cited. 
This plantation, which has 3,400 acres in cultivation to sugar, has an 
annual payroll of $150,000. Its immense sugar house is valued at over 



174 







CHARCOAL BURNING 



$300,000. It has 35 miles of 36-inch gauge railroad, with three 17-ton 
engines and 262 cars of from 5 to 10 tons capacity. Its mill will grind, 
on the average, 1200 tons of cane a day. Over 15 miles from end to end, 
this great farm employs from 800 to 1000 people all the year and 30 per 
cent more during the planting and harvesting seasons, and maintains 
a population of nearly 20C0 souls. It has its own public school, with an 
eleven months term, as against six months for the ordinary parish in- 
stitution. 

And this is not by any means the largest single sugar interest in the 
state. 

One great holding corporation, for instance, operates four great 
plants under such a unique and comprehensive system as to make the 
four integral units constitute to all intents and purposes one single plan- 
tation, with no less than IS, 000 acres under cultivation to sugar cane, 
and employing 3000 people throughout the year — 8000 during the har- 
vesting season — maintaining a stable population of 5000 'people, and 
paying out a million and a half dollars in wages. The original invest- 
ment in these properties represents no less than $7,000,000, which, con- 
sidering the extraordinary increase in their efficiency, due to improve- 
ments in agricultural methods, centralization of manufacture, and sci- 
entific disposal of the crop, is worth today at least $15,000,000. 

These large plantations are conducted in much the same way as are 
the great railroad systems of the country. Records of all kinds are kept 
showing the daily cost of plowing, hoeing, ditching, and cultivating an 
acre to each unit as compared with the same undertaking on each of 
the other units, effecting an economy in the cost of annual mainten- 
ance that would be impossible under ordinary conditions. 

The advantages of the centralization of effort can be realized very 
readily when it is said that the four great factories of this corporation 
are today manufacturing more sugar and at cheaper rate than the fig- 
ures represented by the output of the twenty-odd factories, before this 
centralization was effected. 

This great plantation uses 1200 mules, 75 miles of railroad, 650 cars 
of 6 to 10 tons capacity each, and produces 80,000,000 pounds of sugar — 
a figure that twenty years ago would have been the aggregate product 



175 



of over seventy sugar houses — and has an annual gross income of three 
to three and a half million dollars. 

The first operation in the growing of sugar, as in the growing of 
any staple crop, is the proper preparation of the land. A sugar planta- 
tion is divided into and operated as three integral units in order to per- 
mit the regular and systematic rotation. Each year finds one of these 
units growing plant cane, one growing second and third year cane, and 
the third corn and peas. The peas are planted after the corn and are 
plowed under to bring the land into condition for the planting of the 
new cane crop. This system of rotation is followed with little devia- 
tion year after year. 

The ground that is to be planted in sugar cane is plowed twice, once 
in the fall and once just before planting time, which for two-thirds of 
the crop is in the latter part of February or the beginning of March, 
the vicissitudes of season sometimes prolonging it until the middle of 
April. The fall planting season ranges from the middle of October 
until the middle of November. Plowing over, the land is tilled up in 
6 -foot rows which are opened up and the cane placed in them by hand; 
three stalks side by side ensure a stand, as very frequently cane is de- 
fective, the ulterior appearance of the stock not being indicative of its 
ability to germinate. The cane is then covered with 3 to 5 inches of soil, 
this operation being performed by a light plow. A heavy roller is then 
passed over the field, and the cane left to grow. After the cane sprouts, 
or shortly before, the season of active cultivation commenced. A plow 
is first passed on either side of each row and all surplus soil removed 
from the cane by hoe, an operation which, requiring manual labor, is 
very tedious and expensive. As the cane grows, the dirt is continually 
stirred around it with standard riding cultivators; is continually fer- 
tilized with tankage, cotton seed meal, and various commercial fertil- 
izers, and every weed is religiously kept down. From then on until the 
cane has attained a height and density as to make it impracticable, the 
growing cane is regularly cultivated with plows and discs, the soil being 
completely hilled up around it. The last period of cultivation com- 
mences as a rule about July 1, at which time the middle of the rows is 
plowed to a depth of 15 inches, and the drainage perfected by the cutting 
of quarter drains, which run perpendicular to the rows and empty into 
the regular drainage ditches. The cane is then left until harvest time, 
the yield depending on the bounty of nature and the extent of the rav- 
ages of the cane-borer. 

The cane-borer, a worm three-quarters of an inch in length, is to 
the sugar cane what the boll weevil is to cotton — a vital, unrelenting, 
ever-active destructionist. It is estimated by those in authority to know 
that its relative damage to the growirg crop is from ten to twelve per 
cent, sometimes more. 

In the past few years strenuous elTorts have been made to eradicate 
it by both federal and state governments, as well as by the larger 
planters, and although the annual loss occasioned by it has been some- 
what reduced, no effective measure of relief has been devised. Fall 
planting, the burning of the corn stalks where the borer propagates 
to especial advantage, the destruction of all other waste, and the cut- 
ting out and burning of the cane killed by the borer, are some of the 



176 



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177 

measures in its eradication that are meeting with a certain measure of 
success. 

The Georgia plantation, one of the largest sugar plantations in the 
state, has devised a very unique method of cane-borer destruction. 
Lamps of 3,000 candle-power are placed on flatcars at defined distances 
along the plantation railroad, while wood and coal oil fires are burned 
at convenient points throughout the fields themselves, and the cane- 
borers, in moth form, are said to fly by thousands into the flames, it 
being estimated that in the last few months many billions have been 
destroyed. 

The harvesting and grinding of the cane is a most strenuous period 
to the cane grower, who has little time at this season for even his 
meals. 

At the present time the cane is stripped and cut by hand, man having 
not yet devised a machine commercially adapted to the work. Experi- 
ments, however, are being made, and it is expected that before long a 
suitable machine will be on the market. Many machines have been 
introduced to date, but none has embraced the requirements of the suc- 
cessful harvester. 

As the cane is cut, it is loaded by mechanical loaders, operated by gas 
engine, into wagons of from one and a half to two tons capacity each. 
These are driven to the hoisting derricks, placed at convenient distances 
throughout the plantation, ominous looking contrivances that bear a 
striking resemblance to the gibbet. These derricks load the cane on 
to the cars, which as loaded are run to the sugar house, where the cane 
is automatically discharged into a patented carrier which conveys it to 
the corrugated steel crushers. After being crushed the cane is run under 
six to nine heavy rollers, each exerting a hydraulic pressure of 300 to 
400 tons. The consequent juice is then run into what are known as 
the liming tanks to correct acidity and cause coagulation and the pre- 
cipitation of all foreign matter. The juice is then pumped into a cylin- 
drical heater through numberless copper tubes where it is heated to 
180 to 230 degrees Fahrenheit, conditioned on the results desired, after 
which it is run into settlers, or clarifiers, and its impurities allowed to 
settle. The juice is then subjected to the double, triple, and quadruple 
effects, where it is concentrated into syrup, the residuum in the bottom 
of the settlers being caried to the filters. The syrup is then conveyed 
by pump to the charge tanks, where it is concentrated into sugar by 
a system of vacuum boiling. It is then passed through the centrifugal 
machines,- where the coherent grain sugar is separated from the mas- 
quitte. this being the technical term for the syrup in a highly concen- 
trated form. The masquitte is then reboiled, and second sugars are ex- 
tracted from it in the same way. The syrup is then boiled again, and 
generally allowed several months to concentrate, or grain up, when it is ■ 
once more run through the centrifugals and a small-grained, low-grade 
sugar obtained from it. The residuum is sold as common molasses or 
black strap. 

According to the successful planter it costs $2.75 to $3.00 a ton to 
make and harvest a crop of cane. The average yield per acre amounts 
to 20 tons, although 30 are frequently, and 45 have been made. Aboul 
one-fifth of the yield, however, is used to make the next crop. 



178 



As a rule the cane is sold on the sugar basis, the price being condi- 
tioned on the market value of sugar, the grower being paid 90 cents 
a ton, for each cent that yellow clarified sugar commands in the open 
market, which means that if sugar is selling for 4 cents a pound, the 
grower realizes $3.60 a ton for his cane. 

At the present time about two-thirds of the annual crop is sold to 
the refiners, the remainder, comprising the higher-grade sugars, being 
consigned direct to the trade. 

* * * * 

COTTON. 

Nor must it be supposed for a moment that "King" Cotton has been 
forced to relinquish entirely his inherent right to a throne in the agri- 
cultural domain of Louisiana. Agriculturally, Louisiana may be defined 
as a triumvirate, with "King" Cotton, "King" Sugar, and "King" Rice, 
the triple monarchs. 

"King" Cotton, it is true, never again will be the absolute monarch 
of Louisiana; her arrogant dictator, the usurper of her every preroga- 
tive, but he will be a limited monarch, contributing more effectively to 
the wealth of the Commonwealth than when, in the zenith of his power, 
he enjoyed undisputed homage, secure in the knowledge that no pre- 
tender threatened his supremacy. 

When in 1903 the boll weevil camped with his legions on the cotton 
fields of Louisiana — beyond question the most prolific cotton fields in 
the world — there were few indeed who did not believe that "King" Cot- 
ton had met his final Waterloo. And there seemed to be justification for 
the belief, for from over a million bales the annual production fell to 
two hundred thousand. 

Less than a decade has passed since the dawn broke on what was 
then thought to be the blackest day in all Louisiana's history, but mem- 




LOADING WITH COTTON AT NEW ORLEANS 



17!) 



ory alone stands monument to that giant struggle in which "King" 
Cotton went down in defeat to the myriad-legions of the invader from 
Mexico. 

True, Louisiana may never regain her proud position as the third 
largest cotton-producing state in the Union, but there is every reason 
to believe that cotton will forever remain one of her most potent 
sources of agricultural wealth. For cotton is tho great money crop, 
the one crop which has a staple value in every market place of the 
world, its bill of lading a universally negotiable instrument. 

"King" Cotton's restoration is already evident. This year Louisiana 
raised over four hundred thousand bales of cotton, and next year, with an 
increased acreage and an improved agriculture, she looks forward with 
confidence to a yield of a half million bales. 

Where formerly a planter consumed a whole year in making a bale 
of cotton, he is now, by fall plowing, the planting of an early variety 
of seed, by more scientific methods of cultivation, by adequate fertiliza- 
tion, by systematic picking off and burning of the affected bolls, by the 
destruction of the cotton stalks, and by an intelligent scheme of 
diversification, making it in from eight to nine months. 

Ten years ago, when it was the custom to hold Farmer's Independ- 
ence Day picnics in various parts of the state, a farmer was indeed 
proud who could exhibit a cotton bloom as evidence of his skill on 
these occasions; on July the Fourth of this year not only was cotton 
generally in bloom, but fully matured bolls were not uncommon, some- 
thing that the most progressive planter would not have considered 
within the region of the possible even five years ago. 

For this happy condition, great credit must be given to the Farm 
Demonstration Bureau of the Department of Agriculture, which is doing 
such a colossal work in advancing the welfare of Southern agriculture. 

The Bureau has forty-six experiment stations in the State, which, 
by constantly advocating fall and winter plowing, the rehabilitation of 
the soil, diversification, the use of more and better machinery, and 
proper seed selection, are doing a splendid work in assisting the Lou- 
isiana planter in his efforts to repulse the invader. 

The Louisiana planter, perhaps, has not yet seen the day when he 
will acknowledge that the boll weevil was the saviour of the state, but 
he has begun to discount its power for evil, and work intelligently for 
its subjugation. 

The reign of the boll weevil will be short-lived. Even now, in the 
height of its power its dominion is threatened. And day and night, sci- 
entist and expert are endeavoring to find an effective parasite for the 
destruction of the little pest that has cost the Southern farmer so 
many millions of dollars. 

Cotton can be grown in every parish in Louisiana; last year, in- 
deed, there were only two parishes in which cotton was not raised. 
In some of these parishes, of course, the output was inappreciable, this 
being due to the fact that other crops such as sugar and rice could be 
grown to greater profit. 



180 



COTTON SEED OiL INDUSTRY. 

Another source of great wealth to the Louisiana cotton planter is 
the cotton seed oil industry. 

While not so great as a few years ago, when the yield of cotton was 
appreciably larger, the cotton seed oil industry, returning this year over 
six million dollars to those engaged in it, still occupies an important 
role in the industrial 'life of the State. 

More than forty cotton-seed oil mills with an average capacity of 
125 tons each are in operation at various strategic points throughout 
the cotton belt. 

The cotton seed oil industry is so co-dependent on the cotton industry 
as to prevent any forecast as to its future other than that which would 
be reflected from a forecast of the cotton industry itself, for the cotton 
seed oil industry of every state is governed by the rise and fall of that 
state's annual production of cotton. 

The use of cotton seed is entering into the economic life of the people 
and is utilized more and more for domestic use. The use of cotton seed 
oil meal in fattening stock, and hundreds of by-products now manu- 
factured from cotton seed is one of the astonishing economic evolu- 
tions that has added millions to the productive value of the cotton lands 
of the South. 




CAPITAL CITY OIL MILL, BATON ROUGE. 



RICE. 

With nearly 400,000 acres under active cultivation at the present time, 
with an estimated yield this year of some ten million bushels, with a 
rapidly increasing acreage and a regular and sustained improvement in 
its agricultural and marketing methods, the rice industry of Louisiana, 
returning over ten million dollars annually to those engaged in it, and 
constituting in itself over one-half of the rice industry of the nation, is 
one of the Pelican State's most important, profitable and growing 
branches of agriculture. 

Perhaps no industry in the South has enjoyed a more remarkable or 
a more romantic growth. First raised in Louisiana on a commercial 



181 



scale during the Civil War in an attempt to offset the ill effects ex- 
perienced by the South in the wanton destruction of the Carolina indus- 
try, and found to be so peculiarly responsive to its fertile soil and 
genial climate, rice soon 'became a recognized staple in the state, its 
culture gradually being extended, until in 1880 the harvest aggregated 
over a hundred thousand bushels. 

But the real birth of the industry may be said to date from 1884, 
when a colony of sturdy farmers from the Middle West, disheartened 
by successive crop failures and tired of the interminable, rigorous win- 
ters of the North, migrated to the prairies of Southwest Louisiana, 
where rice-growing had just been commenced in a small way, the indus- 
try up to this time having been confined to the alluvial and delta lands 
of the state. 

Until the arrival of the newcomers, rice culture in the United States 
had differed only in detail from rice culture in the Orient — the same 
methods of cultivation and harvesting as had obtained throughout the 
centuries being in vogue. But the W T estern farmer, fresh from his 
wheat farm, could not be expected to tolerate a continuation of these 
conditions — the hand method of sowing must be superseded by the 
modern drill; t he primitive sicKle by the binder; ancient methods of 
threshing — such as pounding the grain with a club and whipping it 
over a barrel, by the modern steam thresher, and such old-time methods 
of milling as tramping the rice out by horse, by the steam mill. 

This, indeed, was a revolution, and the native population, strong in 
its inherent prejudice against conditions that were foreign to it — a 
common prejudice throughout the world, viewed with pessimism the 
dawn of the new era in the industry— the drill was a myth; the binder, 
on such wet soil, an impracticability; the steam thresher as a sub- 
stitute to the window, a dream: the steam mill, an innovation of a 
tomorrow far distant. But Western enterprise and Western courage 
could not be daunted, and they find their vindication today in such 
prosperous and picturesque communities as Crowley, Jennings and 
Rayne, which, rising from the surrounding lateral plain, veritable oases 
in the desert, stand as lasting monuments to those intrepid pioneers 
from the far-away West, who, by hewing out a new trail in the wilder- 
ness, made possible the present wonderful development of the rice in- 
dustry of Louisiana. 

The next great era— beyond question the most important in the 
history of the rice industry— dates from 1896, the year in which the 
irrigation canal was introduced. The canal was built by the Abbott 
brothers and the Duso,n brothers, who have been potent factors in the 
development of Western Louisiana. 

Up to this time the farmer had had to depend entirely upon the rain 
supply for the irrigation of his crop, the canal, except as it applied to 
the primitive waterway in which the planter stored his rainfall against 
a later day, being unknown. 

What the irrigation canal spelt' to the rice grower of Louisiana needs 
no emphasis. How many growers had experienced total crop failures 
through their inability to afford adequate nurture to the growing grain 



182 




183 



can never be calculated. But their number is legion. The irrigation 
canal changed all this. It made the grower entirely independent of the 
elements. Jupiter Pluvius was no longer the patron saint of the indus- 
try — his dethronement had been absolute. A new star has arisen in the 
firmament. 

IRRIGATION. 

The canal method of irrigation was a tremendous success from the 
day of its inception, and it completely revolutionized the industry, ex- 
tending the growing area to sections that up to that time had been re- 
garded as waste lands, wholly unfitted for the growing of any commer- 
cial crops. 

Unromantic figures can best relate, perhaps, the story of the mar- 
velous growth of the industry since the introduction into it of this great 
new factor. In 1897, the year after the irrigation canal was introduced, 
there was only one plant with less than ten miles of canal; seven 
years later t'here were no less than eighty distinct plants in operation, 
each capable of irrigating from 160 to 20,000 acres, while today 150 
individual companies control 2.500 miles of canal and irrigate in the 
aggregate over 300,000 acres of land. In the same time the number of 
binders has been increased from 3,000 to 10,000, while the annual crop 
has grown from 3,000,000 to 10,000,000 bushels, with a value to those 
engaged in it of over $10,000,000. 

Most of the big canal companies have for their primary object the 
irrigation of their own lands or the lands of some other big rice-growing 
corporation, although every company is willing to sell water to the 
smaller growers. This is generally arranged on a basis of one-fifth 
of the crop, which, in case of a poor crop or an unsatisfactory market, 
materially reduces the obligation of the small grower. 

In commencing operations the canal company first makes a thorough 
topographical survey, which makes possible tfie construction of the 
main canals and laterals in such manner as to allow the water to go 
on at the higher levels and inundate the lower by gravitation. 

Some of these canals are enormous propositions, costing anywhere 
from $50,000 to $300,000 and sometimes more; and all of them represent 
the investment of a great deal of capital, as not only the work of cut- 
ting and maintaining the main canal and the lateral ditches must be 
provided for, but also the erection and operation of power plants ade- 
quate to the needs of the particular undertaking, for practically all of 
the rice in Louisiana is irrigated by pump, the exceptions being the 
alluvial sections, where the water is syphoned from the river — which, 
too, have to maintain auxiliary power plants for emergency purposes — 
and the flowing well, of which there are now about 600 in the state. 

Rice culture, the irrigation feature eliminated, differs very little from 
the cultivation of wheat or any other of the great staples. The ground 
is broken in the late fall and again in February or January, being har- 
rowed and planted from the first of March to the first of June, accord- 
ing to climatic conditions and the condition of the soil. As a rule the 
seed is planted by drill, although in the alluvial districts a great many 
growers cling to the old method of broadcasting. Unless the ground; 



184 



is sufficiently wet, the water is turned on immediately after seeding, be- 
ing turned off again until the grain has not only germinated but attained 
a growth of four or five inches, when it is reflooded to about the same 
depth until a week or so before harvesting time, which commences from 
the latter part of July, according to locality, and extends to about the 
15th of November. 

A crop of rice will yield anywhere from 20 to 80 bushels an acre, this 
remarkable divergency in the figures being attributable to some extent 
to local weather conditions, but more largely to careless planting and 
cultivation and the failure of the grower to restore the fertility of his 
lands by crop diversification. Some farmers have raised only 16 to 20 
bushels to the acre, as against a common average for the state of 32 
bushels, while more progressive farmers realize an average yield of 
from 72 to 80 bushels. 

In the past the average Louisiana rice grower has been extremely 
improvident. In the early history of the industry, the pioneers coined 
money. Not infrequently, indeed, a farmer would purchase from 200 to 
300 acres of land on time payments, and pay for it out of the net pro- 
ceeds of his initial crop. Fortunes were made on every hand, and it 
was only natural that the planter should plant rice to the exclusion of 
every other crop. 

This led to a decided deterioration not only in the productivity of 
the land, but in the quality of the rice, which soon became impreg- 
nated with a very inferior variety, now known as "red" rice, a seed abso- 
lutely untrue to its parent Honduran type. The appearance of this 
"red" rice was the signal of a fall in the yield per acre and the market 
value of the grain, and sounded the death knell of the one-crop idea. 

With the dawn of diversification the rice industry of Louisiana is 
•beginning to assume a stability that would not have been possible under 
the old order of things. Many rice farms are now absolutely self-sus- 
taining, raising their own corn, food-stuffs, cattle, mules and poultry, 
and leaving rice as the money crop. Crop rotation is fast restoring the 
fertility of the soil, and seed selection, the quality of the grain. 

After being threshed the rice is either sold in the field to the agent 
of one or other of the big mills, shipped to the mill direct, or consigned 
to one of the central rice milling points, such as New Orleans, Beau- 
mont, or Houston, about one-third of the total crop being disposed of 
through the factor on the floor of the New Orleans Board of Trade, 
which organization is a ruling factor in controlling the prices of this com- 
modity for the entire country. About three-quarters of the annual crop 
goes direct to the mills, of which there are some fifty in the state, thir- 
teen of which are located in New Orleans, and the balance distributed 
at convenient points throughout the rice belt. 

A visit to a rice mill is a unique experience. The rice is received 
at the mill warehouse in sacks weighing about 180 pounds each, which 
.are unloaded from the cars by belt-conveying machinery of a some- 
what similar character to that employed in the grain elevators of the 
West, being elevated into bins by regular grain elevator machinery. 
From the bins the rice is run through separators, which remove all for- 
eign substances from it. It is then fed into the center of the hulling 
iMins, where it is revolved at the rate nf 250 revolutions a minute, and 



185 



through centrifugal action forced through the perforated ends of the 
upper and lower stones, a process which removes the hull from the 
grain. From these the rice is passed through what are known as the 
fanning machines, which remove the hulls by suction. A very ingenious 
German separator then turns back the unhulled grains to another set of 
stones, for about 25 per cent of the rice that goes through the initial 
set of stones comes out unhulled. The rice is then passed through what 
are technically known as hullers, this really being a misnomer as the 
hulls have been removed already. The huller is a cylinder within a 
metal case, the rice going in at one end and out at the other. This re- 
moves the oily cuticle that covers the grain, this by-product being 
known as rice bran, and commanding a high value as a cattle food. 
From here the rice goes to what are known as the brushes. The 
brushes are upright cylinders covered with leather, which polish the rice 
against a wire screen, leaving behind a white powder known as rice 
polish. From the brushes the rice goes to the polishing drum, where, 
through friction, the highly polished appearance, which is found in 
nearly all finished rice, is obtained. From there the rice goes to the 
clean rice separator, where the broken grains are separated from the 
whole grains and the various commercial grades are separately packed. 

Rice finds its chief uses today as a staple article of human food and 
in the manufacture of 'beer, about 10 per cent of all the .Louisiana crop 
being used for the latter purpose. Approximately one-sixth of the 
entire American crop is shipped at present to Porto Rico, the balance, 
with the exception of occasional shipments to Cuba and European 
ports, being consumed at home. 

More than a million hags of rice are sold annually on the New Or- 
leans Board of Trade. Not all of this, however, is Louisiana rice, about 
one-tenth of it coming from Texas and approximately the same amount 
from Arkansas. All of this is sold through the medium of the factor, 
the rice factor being to the rice grower what the cotton factor is 
to the planter, advancing him the money necessary to grow and harvest 
his crop at a regular rate of interest, and selling it for him afterward 
on a commission basis. Most of the rice disposed of on the New Orleans 
Board of Trade is sold to the local mills, the balance being shipped to 
the South Atlantic market, such as Savannah, Charleston and More- 
head City. 

The future of the rice industry would appear to be very great. 

The late Dr. S. A. Knapp of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the De- 
partment of Agriculture, who played a more important role than any 
other man in the upbuilding of this industry, in speaking of rice, once 
said: 

"Rice forms the principal food for one-half the population of the 
earth. It is more widely and generally used as a food material than 
any other cereal. Where dense populations are dependent for food on 
an annual crop, and the climate permits its cultivation, rice has been 
selected as the staple food. A combination of rice and legumes is a 
much cheaper complete food ration than wheat and meat, and can be 
produced on a much smaller area. As a food material rice is nutri- 
tious and easily digested. Even rice polish, or flour, which is now sold 
at the mills at about a cent a pound for cattle feed, or exported to 



186 




SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB, AT BATON ROUGE. 

Germany, will, when appreciated, be in demand for human food, as it 
contains 10.95 per cent of protein, in comparison with 7.4 for the clean 
rice " 

The consumption of rice in the United States is ridiculously low. 
As the American people are educated, however, to its real food value 
and to the many ways it can be prepared, this consumption will no 
doubt be greatly increased. A per capita increase of Ave pounds alone 
would represent a most enormous increase in the domestic consumption. 
Nor is the United States the only market that the Louisiana rice grower 
has to look for his future. With higher paid labor, more modern agri- 
cultural machinery, a more comprehensive system of irrigation, the 
American rice grower should 'be in a position one day to compete suc- 
cessfully with the rice growers of the world. 

To the good farmer, the growing of rice would seem to offer a more 
profitable return than the growing of wheat. The cost of labor is 
practically the same. Rice, however, under intelligent cultivation, 
should yield at least sixty bushels to the acre, worth from 65 cents to 
$1.00 a bushel in the field, according to market conditions. 

A story of a grocery clerk, who three years ago was working for 
$50 a month at Crowley, the rice center, well illustrates the profits to be 
derived from a rice farm by intelligent management. This grocery 
clerk rented a rice farm in the northern part of Acadia Parish, on what 
is known as the crop percentage basis. He made no money investment 
whatsoever. This year, after paying all his family and farm expenses, 
he netted nearly $5,000. The farm was 235 acres in extent. 

Any Western farmer who really wants to engage in rice cultivation 
can buy land in the rice belt on very reasonable terms. 

* * * * 

PERIQUE TOBACCO. 

Forty-odd miles from New Orleans, in the Parish of St. James, is 
being carried on an historic and picturesque industry, infinitesimal in 
comparison with many of the other great agricultural industries of the 
State, but so peculiarly Louisianian as to make a story of her industrial 
life incomplete without its incorporation. 

First grown long before the Civil War by an Acadian whose name 
the tobacco now bears, the cultivation of Perique tobacco has been kept 



187 



up continuously ever since, the direct lineal descendants of Perique 
being still engaged in the industry. 

Perique tobacco culture is confined to a very small area on the 
'banks of the Mississippi, where soil and climatic conditions are pecu- 
liarly adapted to its growth, and is marketed from Lutcher, a great 
cypress manufacturing center, Convent and Grand Pointe. Altogether 
there are but 500 acres in cultivation, although about 2,000 acres are 
available. 

Perique tobacco is cultivated in much the same manner as any other 
sun tobacco, the land being plowed over and planted in rows five feet 
apart. The tobacco is sown in the early part of January and replanted 
in March or April, the crop being harvested in the latter part of June or 
the beginning of July. 

After harvesting, the tobacco is hung in sheds to dry, after which it 
is stripped and placed in presses until the following March or April, 
when it is ready for market, although frequently it is not sold until 
three or four years old, Perique tobacco, like wine, improving with age. 

Perique tobacco yields about 500 to 600 pounds to the acre, and com- 
mands a price of from 25 to 50 cents a pound. The present yield is 
about 275,000 pounds a year. 

Perique tobacco finds its chief use as a seasoner for mixtures, it 
being an exceedingly strong tobacco, with a distinct flavor and aroma. 
It is shipped to all American tobacco markets, to Canada, England and 

elsewhere. 

* * * * 

TRUCKING. 

Louisiana has been so frequently alluded to as the Holland of 
America as to need no introduction as a trucking state. From the day 
of her settlement, indeed, trucking has been one of her most important 
native industries, New Orleans for more than a century having been 
the center of an intensive agriculture that has served as a model for 
truckers in every quarter of the land. Today this industry is valued at 
more than $10,000,000 annually, and is growing in importance each year. 
The State of Louisiana could have no better all-the-year-round exhibit 
than this living monument to the tremendous advantages that the 
Pelican State offers to the tiller of the soil. 

Louisiana's trucking industry is not confined to the environs of New 
Orleans by any means, however. Louisiana, like Florida, has built up in 
the past few years commercial trucking interests of varying character in 
different parts of the state. There is the famous strawberry industry of 
Tangipahoa Parish, the general truck industry of Rapides, the tomato 
industry of Ouachita, the cabbage industry of Calcasieu, and the potato 
and cantaloupe industries of Caddo and Bossier. 

The trucking industry of Tangipahoa Parish has a world-wide fame — 
especially the strawberry part of it. Six million dollars' worth of 
strawberries were shipped from Hammond, 'Independence, and Amite, 
the chief shipping points of the parish, in 1911 — and all from a district 
that 25 years ago was an indefinable part of the great pine forest. 

In 18S5, the year of the Cotton Exposition at New Orleans, Hammond, 
then known as Hammond's Crossing, had only half a dozen families. Not 
a single family had been added to its population in 20 years. Its lands 



188 



had only a nominal value; in fact, two years before a wise investor had 
purchased 5,000 acres of land at a tax sale for the munificent sum of 
$117. These same lands, by the way, are now held at $30 an acre, or 
$149,883 more than the investor paid out. But conditions changed ma- 
terially in 1885, for in that year the Illinois Central Railroad acquired 
control of the old New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern, and inaugu- 
rated a real policy of progression. The direction of this policy was in 
able hands — in the hands of a man who has done a noble work in the 
upbuilding of the South — Captain J. F. Merry, of Manchester, Iowa, now 
retired, hut for a quarter of a century general immigration agent of 
the Illinois Central System, and a living potent factor in the economic 
life of the South. 

Starting its work by bringing in a few families, the Illinois Central 
gradually extended its policy to include desirable foreign immigration. 
The wisdom of this movement was seriously questioned by the people 
of "Louisiana at the time. But it has seen its justification already. The 
great Tangipahoa strawberry industry is almost wholly in the hands 
of Italians. But these Italians have nothing in common with their citv r 
brothers. They are agrarians, pure and simple. Crime is practically 
unknown to them. They are orderly in the extreme, industrious, provi- 
dent. And best of all, their children are growing up to be real Ameri- 
cans, just as good Americans as the Germans and Scandinavians have 

become in the West. 

* * * * 

HOW FOREIGNERS ARE PROSPERING. 

This is true also of every foreign colony in Louisiana. Take the Bel- 
gian colony at Alexandria, for instance. "When the Rock Island Rail- 
road brought out these immigrants from the Province of Bragant, Bel- 
gium, some ten years ago, none of them had aught but the clothes he 
wore; most were ill-clad. For a time they sought employment in the 
sawmills. But they were farmers by nature and calling, and after 
a while, with their meagre savings, they bought on time payments some 
of the rich bottom lands that are to be found anywhere around Alexan- 
dria, which lies in the famous Red River Valley. Their success belongs 
really to the category of the marvelous. There are approximately a 
hundred farmers in the colony, and they are rated on an average at 
over $10,000 each — some, indeed, are said to be worth nearly $100,000. 
And all in the space of a decade. 

Some of the younger members of this colony, too, are beginning to 
sell their valuable bottom lands and locate on the lower-priced upland, 
or cut-over pine land, as they are more usually called. They find them 
just as good as the bottom lands for most purposes, and for strawberries 
and some vegetables, better. A farmer and son are making between 
two and three thousand dollars net every year on less than 25 acres of 
cut-over land, while a northern settler this year made $1,400 clear profit 
on nine acres of strawberries. 

The Rock Island has recently established a new French colony on 
the cut-over pine land region of Alexandria. The members of this 
colony do not come direct from their native soil, but from Saskatchewan, 
Canada, where for the past two or three years they have found an 
indifferent success. This colony will devote itself to the growing of 



189 



truck for the present, but ultimately it hopes to establish a wine indus- 
try in Louisiana, such as the Italian Colony established with such suc- 
cess in California. And their efforts should not be in vain, for the v\ me 
grape grows luxuriantly in Louisiana, and Louisiana is much closer to 
the great consuming centers of the country. 

Tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, radishes, onions, egg- 
plants, parsley and all the other chief vegetables of the temperate -^oie 
will grow as well in Louisiana as anywhere in the United States. 

* * * # 

WHAT AN ACRE CAN PRODUCE. 

Three hundred and fifty-three dollars net to the acre on 4C> acres of 
tomatoes sounds large, tout that is what one enterprising farmer, Mr. 
L. P. Alexander, of Monroe, did this year. And that did not represent 
the sum total of his year's work, either. On the same land he raised 40 
bushels of potatoes to the acre as a second crop, for which he received 
$1.40 a bushel. And this was an exceptionally poor year for~ potatoes, 
for he has made 225 bushels to the acre as a second crop. Mr. Alexan- 
der raises peas, various varieties of beans, carrots and other vegetables, 
following them by cowpeas, potatoes, or peanuts as he deems best. This 
year he cultivated 175 acres and cleared $17,000. Next year he expects 
to do even better. 




FIELD OF SUGAR CANE IN EAST 
BATON ROUGE PARISH. 



CANTELOUPES. 

Louisiana also is coming to the front in the raising of canteloupes. 
Louisiana raises the famous Rocky Ford exclusively, and it is said to 
produce a fruit that is absolutely true to the parent seed. The Lou- 
isiana melon is marketed about the same time as that of South Georgia, 
so reaches the market at a time when conditions are, as a rule, very 
favorable, and the price is a great deal higher than the most successful 
Colorado growers can realize. At least $75 to $100 net can be maCe 
from canteloupes, subject, of course, to climatic and market conditions. 



190 



Canteloupes can be followed by peanuts or by California peas, which 
command $3.00 a bushel in local markets and yield 12 to 15 bushels an 
acre. Canteloupes are sold for the most part in Cincinnati, Cle /eland, 
Pittsburg', Detroit, Erie and Wheeling, but next year it is intended to 
invade the West, where the Louisiana grower will not have to compete 
with Georgia and Florida. 



CITRUS FRUITS. 

In the growing of citrus fruits Louisiana is becoming yearly more 
prominent, this year raising 400,000 boxes of her famous "sweets," or 
native seedlings, said to be the highest priced oranges on the market. 
The chief orange groves in the state are situated along the Mississippi 
River, south of New Orleans, although there are many fine groves 
throughout the Gulf Coast country, especially in the Parish of Calca- 
sieu. In the latter parish at Lake Charles, there has been evolved a 
system of grove protection from frost by inundation that promises to 
give the citrus industry of that section a wonderful impetus. The 
grapefruit also does well in Louisiana, as do Satsuma oranges, and figs. 
The fig industry around Jennings, built up through the efforts of 
"'Father" Cary, the town's founder, and one of the chief factors in the 
development of southwest Louisiana, has become one of the most im- 
portant fruit industries of the state. 



PECANS. 

One of Louisiana's indigenous trees, the pecan, grows to especial ad- 
vantage in the Pelican State. Louisiana has a larger native pecan area 
than any state but Texas. The grafted pecan industry is also becom- 
ing an important one, especially in Ouachita, Rapides, Jefferson and 
West Baton Rouge parishes. Properly cultivated, a pecan grove is a 
safe and conservative investment. 



MINERAL WEALTH— SULPHUR, ETC. 

Nature has endowed Louisiana with many wonderful natural resources. 
Within her borders can be found in inexhaustible quantities vast de- 
posits of sulphur, oil, natural gas, salt, lignite and many fine kaolins 
and clays; while throughout her tertiary strata there occur in varying 
quantities, marble, limestone, sandstone, iron, gypsum, Fuller's earth, 
green sand, and other less important minerals. 

Of these, sulphur, oil, natural gas, salt, and, to a limited extent, mar- 
ble, are the only ones that have been commercially developed, and even 
they have not seen the dawn break on the horizon of the future, for 
almost every day witnesses an extension of Louisiana's mineralor/ical 
area; almost every day sees the necessity for a revision of her geolog- 
ical textbooks; in fact, no other state in the entire Union seems to be 
experiencing a more remarkable or more striking development in this 
respect. 



191 




I 



— «S 



A SUGAR FACTORY 



Four hundred men ^nd American ingenuity to produce the same re- 
sults in the United States as 21,000 men in Italy — that is the wonderful 
story of the sulphur industry in Louisiana. 

The history of this industry is typically American in its vicissitudes. 

Discovered as long ago as 1858, it is only within the past few years 
that the deposit has been commercially worked. 

It must not be supposed, however, that this was due in any measure 
to a lack of knowledge as to its value. How many millions of dollars 
were lost, how many hundreds of people financially ruined, how many 
lives were sacrified in the many vain attempts that were intermit- 
tently made to utilize this magnificent gift of Nature before success at 
last came, no man can tell. 

From the close of the War until 1870, however, when a great French 
syndicate acquired an option on the property, numerous attempts were 
made to mine it, all, for one reason or another, unsuccessful, and from 
that time until the present interests gained control, almost as many 
more. 

The operations of the 'French syndicate, being undertaken on the 
usual elaborate scale of all things French, deserve special mention. 
How to get at the sulphur no one knew, but the engineers in charge 
determined to sink an 11-foot shaft to the deposit. This was a gigantic 
enterprise in itself, for at that time there was no foundry in the United 
States that could pretend to manufacture the casting required for such 
a great engineering enterprise. These, therefore, had to be imported 
from France, an arduous and an expensive task, for each casting was 
eleven feet in diameter and five feet long and weighed seven and a half 
tons. At that time there, too, was no railroad to the mines, and the 
machinery had to be coneveyed thereto by wagon from a point on the 
Calcasieu River, nine miles away. The cost of transportation on 
machinery and castings alone amounted, according to the company, to 
over $300,000. 

This enormous expenditure of money and time was. however, all to 
no purpose, for before the engineers in charge had sunk their shaft to 



192 



a depth necessary to insert even the first ring of the caisson, the com- 
pany abandoned the project, feeling that, having expended over a million 
and a half dollars with no tangible results, to invest more money in what 
appeared, from their long range, a fruitless undertaking, would be in 
absurdity. 

The great castings and the magnificent machinery, left to rust in 
the wilderness, are today the only reminders of France's interest in the 
sulphur resources of Louisiana! 

The next 'big attempt to develop the mines was made in 1889 by a 
New York syndicate, which, in the face of expert advice, proceeded to 
sink an elaborate shaft to the mines, the only result from this attempt 
being the loss of a million dollars and a number of lives and the rever- 
sion of the property to its original owners. 

But every problem in Nature is bound at last to yield to the ingenuity 
of man — that has been the law and order of things in the evolution of 
the ages. Man and the hour must eventually meet — and in the meeting 
Nature must succumb. 

Thus it was with the sulphur industry of Louisiana. In 1902 a scien- 
tist, with the scientist's faculty of delving into the region of the un- 
known, directed his efforts toward the solution of the one great prob- 
lem that for so long had thwarted the energies of science and engineer- 
ing, namely, how to mine the sulphur in some other way than by the 
shaft method, which could never be successful, owing to the inconsist- 
ency of tho overlying strata. 

It took Herman Frasch, the inventor of the process for desulphur- 
izing Lima oil, some time to find a practical solution to the problem, 
but that solution not only gave birth to the Louisiana sulphur industry, 
but it completely revolutionized the sulphur industry of the world. 

Mr. Frasch's invention consists roughly in melting the sulphur from 
the sulphur -bearing rock 'by the application of hot water and steam, 
and the pumping >by compressed air of the 'consequent liquid sulphur to 
the surface. Here it is run into vats and allowed to congeal, the vat 
being formed on an eight-inch plank enclosure. As each layer of sul- 
phur congeals, the operation is repeated, until the sulphur pile has at- 
tained a height of 60 or 70 feet and becomes to all intents and purposes 
a solid mountain of sulphur. 

-Scintillating in the sunshine, these huge masses of sulphur, over 99 
per cent pure, constitute one of the most remarkable sights to be found 
anywhere on this continent. It is said, indeed, that there is over two 
years' supply of sulphur above ground at the present time. 

A unique thing about the Frasch method of sulphur mining is that 
not a single workman ever goes beneath the surface, every operation 
being carried on above ground; in the Italian government mines in 
Sicily, on the contrary, the sulphur is all produced on the shaft and 
tunnel principle, the consequent loss of life being very great. 

The annual output of the Louisiana sulphur mines is about 200,000 
tons, the value of the product being estimated at over $4,000,000. 

Most of this sulphur is shipped in the company's own steamers from 
Port Sabine, Texas, to North Atlantic seaports for distribution through- 
out the United States and Canada, about ten per cent of it going to the 
Eastern refineries, the largest of 'which are in New York, the National 



193 




A RESIDENCE IN AVOYELLES 

Sulphur Company's plan in that city being the largest sulphur refinery 
in the world. 

About 70 per cent of the domestic supply of sulphur is now used in 
the manufacture of paper. The sulphur is burned into gas and passed 
through a tank containing milk of lime, and then finely chopped-up 
wood, usually spruce, is mixed with the resultant fluid, which induces a 
process of decomposition in the wood, and converts it into what is tech- 
nically known as wood pulp. 



OIL PRODUCTION. 

With the production in 1910 of 6,841,395 barrels of crude oil, valued 
at $3,574,069, Louisiana now stands eighth among the great oil-produc- 
ing states of the Union, and as almost every week witnesses the bring- ' 
ing in of new wells, or the finding of oil indications in various parts 
of the state, there would seem to be every reason to believe that she 
will have outranked at least four of these states in the next two or 
three years. Louisiana increased her output in 1910 123 per cent. The 
year 1911 should record a production of at least 10,000,000 barrels. 

And the oil industry of Louisiana is yet in its infancy. Oil, it is 
true, has been prospected for in Louisiana from long before the War, 
the magnificent sulphur deposits of the state having been uncovered in 
one of the many unsuccessful attempts to tap the oil deposits of south- 
west Louisiana. But it is only since 1901, when the famous Spindletop 
gusher of the Beaumont district turned the attention of the great oil 
operators to the Gulf Coast country, and the Jennings field, which in 
point of production has been one of the most remarkable confined oil 
fields in the world, was discovered, that the petroleum industry has been 
a factor in the industrial life of Louisiana. 



194 



The Jennings oil field is said to be the largest single oil pool in the 
world, having produced 60,000,000 barrels of oil since 1902. This field 
reached the height of its production in 1906, when it produced 9,025,174 
barrels. Since that time it has dropped off appreciably, in 1909 making 
less than 2,000,000 barrels and in 1910 even a smaller record. 

The Jennings field has had a number of large gushers, the Wilkins 
No. — having been, when it came, the greatest oil well in the world. 
Since that time many great gushers have been brought in, especially in 
California and Mexico, that have been far greater producers than this 
pioneer well of the Jennings field, but it is doubtful if many wells can 
claim a better record, this well having produced over 3,000,000 harrels 
of oil, or, in other words, over one-twentieth of the total amount of oil 
taken from the field. Unlike the Jennings field, the Caddo field is sup- 
posed to be a series of pools, with the first wells in the proven territory 
getting the bulk of the oil. 

When oil was discovered in the Caddo district in 1905, it was not 
thought that the field was an important one, but the production has 
increased at a tremendous rate, until now, with nearly 500 producing 
wells, many of them gushers, the production averages over 25,000 barrels 
a day, and the Caddo field has become by far the most important oil- 
producing section of the southwest. 

In the Harrel Number 7, the Caddo field has one of the largest single 
oil wells in the United States; indeed, it is estimated that when this well 
was first brought in it made nearly 50,000 barrels of oil a day, a produc- 
tion that was reduced materially only because the pipe line facilities 
in the Caddo field were inadequate. This is the oil well that furnished 
the sensational fire that for so many months defied every engineering 
effort, and was brought under control only after the engineers had 
tuaneled below the point of combustion and piped out a large portion 
of the oil and gas that fed the flames. 

There are three pipe lines from the Caddo field, namely to Beau- 
mont, Texas, Baton Rouge, where is located the great three-million- 
dollar refinery of the Standard Oil Company, and to Port Arthur, Texas, 
the seaport through which most of the oil produced in Texas and Lou- 
isiana is shipped to the markets of the world. 

The Vinton oil field has not lived up to expectations. In its early 
days it made 22,000 barrels a day, while it now averages less than 5,000. 
For a new field, however, the Vinton district has a remarkable record, 
having produced approximately 3,000,000 barrels of oil in less than ten 
months. When this field first came in, two to ten thousand gushers 
were quite common, but the gushers appear to have given out entirely, 
all of the oil now being produced entirely by the pump method. 

What the future holds forth for the oil industry of Louisiana, no one 
can foretell. All of Louisiana's oil is at present said to be produced 
from the pockets, no regular stratum of oil having been found to date. 
Some geologists hold, however, that oil underlies a great portion of the 
surface of Louisiana, and that the Louisiana oil field is a continuation 
of the Texas and Mid-continent oil fields, and that one day Louisiana 
will be second only to California as an oil-producing state. Out in the 
Gulf of Mexico, too, there is said to be a veritable oil pool in which ships 



195 



ride regardless of the storm, and which is said to mark the outlet for 
this great subterranean stream. 

Oil is being- prospected for in various parts of Louisiana, and as the 
prospecting is not of the "wildcat" variety, but is being carried on by 
close corporations along intelligent lines, there seems to be good reason 
for conceding a real future to this romantic industry. 



NATURAL GAS. 

Another of Louisiana's great natural resources are her wonderful 
deposits of natural gas. 

Although she cannot pretend to rank at present with West Virginia 
and Pennsylvania in point of natural gas production, Louisiana is in 
possession, in the Caddo gas field, of the largest single natural gas field 
in the United States. 

Some idea of the vastness of this field can be gained from the fact 
that it has no less than 47 huge producing wells in active operation at 
the present time, although the entire field, as at present defined, is 
embraced in an area of 10 to 12 square miles. It is believed, however, 
that this field is a continuation of the Mid-continent field, and that it 
will one day extend, with interruptions, to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Gas at Caddo is found at depths of 800, 1,800, and 2,200 feet, varying 
slightly with the topography. Some wells have made as high as eighty 
to a hundred million cubic feet every 24 hours from a 6 -inch open pipe, 
while others, again, have greatly exceeded that figure. 

Only a small portion of the available gas in the Caddo field is con- 
sumed at present, hundreds and hundreds of millions of feet being lost 
daily from the larger oil wells. This, however, is unavoidable, as there 
is no way of utilizing gas and oil simultaneously. The gas from the 
Caddo field is of a very superior grade, having very little fume, and 
being absolutely non-noxious. In theoretical fuel value it is also very 
high, 60 per cent of this gas being equal to a hundred per cent of gas 
manufactured from coal. 

The natural gas flows from the wells at a pressure of from 35 to 300 
pounds to the square inch, depending on the amount of gas required. 
From the well to the pipe or field line, a pressure, regulated to condi- 
tions, of 150 to 400 pounds is maintained. The natural pressure answers 
all present purposes, but unless this field differs materially from the 
older gas fields of the country, compresses eventually will be necessary 
for long-distance transmission. 

Caddo natural gas is piped at present to Texarkana, Little Rock and 
Shreveport, there being a 10-inch main to Texarkana, and three pipe 
lines, of 4, 6 and 8-inch capacity, respectively, to Shreveport. 

The Little Rock line is 180 miles long, has two compressor stations, 
and, besides Little Rock, supplies Arkadelphia, Hope, Garden, Hot 
Springs, Poplar Bluff, aryi other towns. 

Ultimately it is hoped that pipe lines will be laid to New Orleans, 
Memphis and St. Louis. 

The natural gas field should offer great opportunities to the manu- 
facturer of all classes of articles in whose manufacture fuel is a consid- 



196 




OLD RACE TRACK, 1858. CLUMP OF 
TREES IS WHERE ZACHARY TAY- 
LOR'S RESIDENCE ONCE STOOD. 

eration. When natural gas was first utilized in 1900, gas was sold in 
Shreveport at $3.00 a thousand feet for lighting purposes and $1.75 for 1 
fuel, the gas being generated from Oklahoma coal; today gas for domes- 
tic purposes sells at 18 to 22 cents net and power gas from 4 to 11 cents. 
The citizens of Chicago, just celebrating their 80-cent gas victory, 
should regard Shreveport with envy. In Pittsburg, too, where the pro- 
ducers of natural gas have to compete with the very best class of Pitts- 
burg-mined coal, the rates for natural gas are 12% cents for power 
and 27 cents for domestic uses. The highest rate for electricity gen- 
erated from natural gas, is eight cents per kilowatt hour for domestic 
purposes and for from 3 to 8 cents for manufactories, large consumers 
getting an even lower rate. 



ROCK SALT. 

Five hundred feet beneath the surface, veritable mammoth caves, 
cut from the solid transparent rock, seemingly by a master hand, glit- 
tering with a thousand crystals, reflecting strange colors and weird 
phantom shapes, converting men and mules into diminutive denizens 
of a strange world — awful in their magnitude, awe-inspiring in their un- 
known depths, forever veiled in mystic shades, the great rock salt mines 
of Louisiana well might be the prototypes of those mystic caverns that 
inspired the facile pens of such visionary romanticists as Jules Verne 
and Robert Louis Stevenson. 

With a visible supply of some twenty billion tons of rock salt, suf- 
ficient salt to supply the demands of the world for centuries to come, the 
great rock salt deposits of Louisiana are larger than any yet uncovered 
on this continent, eminent scientists the world over comparing them to 
the famous Strassfurt and Sperenberg deposits of Prussia, the Gallicia 
deposits of Austria, and the world-renowned Trans-Indus salt beds of 
Hindoostani, most of them admitting that they are at least third, perhaps 
second, among the great salt deposits of the earth. 



197 



The only two salt deposits that have reached a greated depth than those 
of Louisiana are the Gallicia and Sperenberg workings. The former 
has reached a depth of 4,600 feet, but this does not represent by any 
means 4,600 feet of solid salt, for there are a number of geological inter- 
ruptions, various strata of foreign matter occurring at irregular inter- 
vals. The Sperenberg deposit, however, is 3,769 feet in depth, the salt 
occurring in a conglomerate mass. The famous Strassfurt deposits are 
only 685 feet deep, while those cf India average from 300 to 700 feet, 
and at no point show a greater depth than 1,200 feet. The deepest 
boring made in Louisiana to date is 2,090 feet, and as at this depth 
there seemed to be absolutely no change in the character of the salt or' 
the consistency of the stratum, there is every reason to believe that the 
Louisiana deposits are equally as deep as any to be found anywhere. 

From whence these great deposits spring is a mystery — a mystery 
that geologists from almost the first settlement of this country have 
attempted in vain to solve. Some scientists, such as Thomassy, have 
claimed them to be of volcanic origin; others, like Dr. Richard Owen, 
non-volcanic, tout due to the action of wind and waves; some claim 
that they are due to alluvion, that is, the imprisoning of an arm of the 
sea through alluvial deposit, and the consequent evaporation of the 
salt water so enclosed: while others claim that salt water springs, and 
not the sea, have figured in their formation. 

Louisiana's rock salt mines have been confined up to the present to 
certain islands on the Gulf Coast, but it is the opinion of scientists 
that rock salt underlies not only the great salt springs at Natchitoches, 
Bienville, Monroe, and other parts of North Louisiana, but a considera- 
ble proportion of the entire tertiary strata. At Pine Prairie, a few miles 
southwest of Alexandria, indeed, a rock salt bed has been uncovered 
that is thought to be larger than any heretofore unearthed. 

Hardly islands, in the accepted sense of the term, being separated 
from the mainland only by a low salt marsh, these remarkable promon- 
itories, rising to a height of from 125 to 200 feet above the surrounding 
country, differ so radically in character and formation from the main- 
land itself, as to be geographically distinct, and fully entitled to the 
appellation, island. 

The names of these islands are: Grand Cote, commonly known as 
Weeks Island; Petite Anse, better known as Avery Island; Cote Carline, 
known to all Louisiana as Jefferson Island, because it was for many 
years the beloved home of America's great actor; Belle Isle, the chief 
rendezvous of the intrepid Lafitte and his piratical band, and Cote 
Blanche, the last named being the only one of the five on which rock 
salt has not. been found, due probatory to the fact that few borings have 
been made there. 

The production of salt is Louisiana's oldest industry, for not only has 
it been produced more or less extensively since the day the House of 
Bourbon unfurled its flag upon her shores, but long, long before the 
tread of the white man's foot resounded through the noble forests of 
Louisiana, it had been used as a valuable trading commodity among 
the Indian aborigines, the very first white settlers of Louisiana having 
reported meeting with Indian salt traders at various points, one of 
these being no other than the great Bienville. 



198 



The salt produced by the aboriginees was all evaporated, a fact that 
has been borne out by the finding at the salt springs of north Lou- 
isiana and at least threeof the five Gulf Islands of large accumulations 
of potsherds, the crude clay vessels fashioned hy the Indians for this 
purpose. 

The extensiveness of Louisiana's rock salt deposits does not appear 
to have been known to the Indians, but certain discoveries have been 
made that would seem to indicate that prehistoric man both knew of 
and worked them — either that, or the scientific theory that man and 
mastadon did not exist on the earth at one and the same time has 
been successfully refuted, for in the sinking of the shafts mastadon 
bones have been found intermingled in the same stratum with human 
bones, pottery and other relics, while at Avery Island a fragment of cane 
basket work was picked up on the face of the salt itself. 

The evaporated salt industry was quite an important one from the 
first settlement of Louisiana until after the war, not only in north Lou- 
isiana, where were located Price's salt works, King's salt works, and 
Rayburn's salt works, all known to fame, but also at Petite Anse, where 
salt had been manufactured from the year 1795, three years from the 
first attempt to evaporate salt from the great brine springs of New 
York State. During the war salt sold as high as $15 a barrel, and both 
Confederates and Federals depended upon Louisiana for a large portion 
of their supply. 

With the march of progress, however, with its incident economy of 
manufacture, its increased transportation facilities, its freight rate 
differentials — all speaking active competition, the industry, carried on 
intermittently until 1S94, died out altogether in that year, and has never 
been revived. 

The great rock salt deposits of Louisiana were discovered by accident 
in May, 1862. Salt was very scarce at that time, and the proprietor of 
the Island's salt works, John Marsh Avery, determined to profit by it. 
With this end in view he commenced to deepen his wells. One negro 
workman, after going down 16 feet, came to Mr. Avery with the news 
that he had struck a sunken log, and could proceed no further. Mr. 
Avery investigated, and found, not a log, hut the great rock salt deposit 
that has made Louisiana famous throughout the country. The discovery 
did not come altogether as a surprise, as Thomassy had predicted that 
a great rock salt deposit would be one day uncovered in each of the 
five Gulf Islands, and perhaps in other portions of the state. 

Since the close of the war, rock salt has heen an important contrib- 
uting factor in the mineral wealth of the state. Until 1903, when mining 
operations were commenced by the Myles Salt Company at the great 
Weeks' Island deposit, Avery Island had the only active salt mine in 
the state. The deposit at Belle Isle was worked for some time, but the 
shaft was destroyed by water, with a loss estimated at over a million 
and a half dollars. 

Weeks' Island is situated a hundred miles west of New Orleans, 
and about twenty-five miles from Franklin, on an arm of beautiful 
Vermilion Bay, being connected to the mainland by a branch of the 
Southern Pacific Railway. It is a beautiful island, with a topography 
and an outlook as charming as can be found anywhere on the Gulf 



199 



Coast, Archaelogically, also, it is interesting, for it is the possessor of 
one of the largest Indian shell mounds known. This mound is 600 feet 
long, 3,260 feet broad and 10 feet high, and from it numerous skeletons, 
arrow heads and other Indian relics have been taken. It is supposed to 
have been the burial ground of an important Indian tribe. 

Although salt was not discovered at Weeks' Island until 1897, it had 
been prospected for at intervals from 1S62, in the excitement following 
the discovery of the Avery deposit. 

The discoverer of the Weeks' Island deposit was General P. F. Myles, 
who with his brother, Mr. Beverly B. Myles, present president of the 
Myles Salt Company, has done more, perhaps, than any living man to 
develop the salt resources of the state. 

A visit to the Myles salt mine is of peculiar interest. Arriving at 
Weeks' Island, on the company's own train, we ascend the sloping hill 
to the plant, which stands sentinel above the Gulf. A few minutes later 
we enter the shaft, and are being carried down to the mine itself, 600 
feet below the surface, a unique sensation, especially when we look 
upward, and watch that ball of light, the last vestige of the outside 
world, gradually grow smaller and smaller, and ultimately disappear. 
Arriving at the bottom, we step out on to a floor of solid salt — salt 
everywhere — no artificial scaffolding as in most mines, just pillars and 
columns, columns and pillars, of solid salt — six billion tons of it alto- 
gether, so the scientists say. The depth of this deposit is unknown, as 
no shaft has been sunk lower than 650 feet, this not having been neces- 
sary, as the amount of salt available at this depth is more than suffi- 
cient to meet the demand for many years to come. 

Having found our bearings, we start out for an inspection of the 
mine itself, each carrying a tallow candle to light him on his way, and 
warn the mule trains, which seem to wind like grim octopuses in every 
conceivable direction. 

Passing through the first great chamber, which has the appearance 
and the grim grandeur of sorne ancient cathedral, we arrive at a point 
where active operations are being carried on. 

Rock salt is mined in very much the same manner as are all the 
baser minerals. The first operation is the drilling of the holes for the 
insertion of the dynamic charges, rock salt having a resisting power 




AWAITING TURN AT THE GIN 



200 



of 5,000 pounds to the square inch. This is accomplished by 11-foot 
drills. The salt is cut out in tunnel form, arched columns being left 
to prevent a collapse. These tunnels are 750 to 1,000 feet long and SO to 
100 feet wide, and of about the same height. The blasting is generally 
done at night, as well to prevent accident as to allow the atmosphere to 
clear in time for the following day's work. As blasted, the salt is 
loaded on regular narrow gauge mule trains, which carry it to the foot 
of the shaft. The negroes who do this work are all swarthy-looking 
fellows, with skins as smooth and as shiny as the finest porpoise 
leather, due to the action of the salt, for salt is unquestionably the 
greatest skin remedy known. 

As we stand and look around us, we are indeed inspired and awed — 
the dusky shovelers clothed only from the waist, the mule trains, some 
empty, some loaded, fitting here, there and everywhere, the huge piles 
of salt, 99.84 per cent pure chloride of sodium, the glittering lights, the 
lurking shadows, and above all the grandeur of the mines themselves, 
they constitute indeed a scene that will focus itself forever upon our 
memories. 

Retracing our steps to the foot of the shaft, we pause for a moment 
to watch the salt pass through the great 40 horse-power electric-motor- 
driven crusher, an operation that is accomplished so speedily that we 
cannot detect even a single detail. 

After being crushed, the salt is fed by gravitation into the cage and 
carried to the mill, where it is fed automatically into screens and sepa- 
rated into the various commercial grades, and, if shipped in bulk, de- 
posited by gravity into the cars; if the contrary, automatically fed into 
sacks. 

Again we are headed for terra firma, glad to be once more in God's 
own outdoors, but sorry to leave behind us what is undoubtedly one 
of the most remarkable sights in this state of many wonders. 



TIMBER RESOURCES. 

Second only to the much larger state of Washington in the vastness 
of her timber resources and the value of her annual cut, Louisiana, 
possessing, in untold quantities, such soft and hard woods as long and 
short leaf pine, cypress, almost every known variety of oak; hickory, 
gum, pecan, Cottonwood, ash, magnolia, maple, and the largest known 
varieties of elm is, by a very large margin, the greatest lum'bering 
state in the South. 

With a timber area of over four million acres, with more than five 
hundred sawmills in constant operation, with an army of at least 25,000 
men in active employment, with an annual cut of two and a half billion 
feet, or one-sixth of the total yellow pine cut of the country, the manu- 
facture of yellow pine is at present the most important branch of Lou- 
isiana's great lumber industry. 

Yellow pine occurs in 31 of Louisiana's 60 parishes, and is said to 
cut more to the acre than the pine of any other state. In the southern 
and middle part of the state there are to be found immense forests of 



201 






SECOND GROWTH PIXE 



the long-leafed pine that has built up the famous lumber industries of 
Georgia and Florida, while throughout the northern sections of the 
state short-leafed pine of a superior character is very plentiful. Scat- 
tered throughout the state, too, there are hundreds of sawmills that in 
construction and capacity are the equal of any to be found in the world; 
in fact it can be said with truth that the Louisiana lumberman has set 
a new standard in sawmill construction. 

In Bogalusa, Louisiana boasts the largest lumber town in the United 
States, if not in the world — and one of the most unique. Not one of 
those lumber towns that is established today to be abandoned tomorrow, 
Bogalusa has been built up on the broad and comprehensive lines of 
permanency that should assure her a continuation of prosperity long 
after the timber to which she owes her present well-being has become 
a memory of yesterday. 

The City of Bogalusa, owned and controlled by the Great Southern 
Lumber Company — every building in the corporate limits being either 
leased or rented from it, is a pleasing example of the prosperous 
American city. Modern in every detail, it has two hotels — one of which, 
the Great Southern, would be a monument to any town of 50,000 inhab- 
itants or more — a splendid high and two good common schools, churches 
of all denominations, a modern hospital, a fine library, one of the most 
substantial Y. M. C. A.'s in the state, a modern sewerage system, an 
elaborate electric light plant, a good water system, cement sidewalks, a 
fire protection service and all the other conveniences of the city of today. 

The help is entirely segregated, the white, Italian and colored ele- 
ments all being established in different sections of the town. The 
houses, of which there are about 700, are rented by the company to 
the help at a nominal figure, those for the white hands being lighted 
by electricity and equipped with bath, running water, model washstand, 
and all other modern conveniences; those for the colored differing very 
materially from the class of residence that is usually found in a mill 
town, being fitted with glass windows and running water. 

Six hundred and fifty thousand to seven hundred and fifty thousand 
feet a day — that is the capacity of the great Bogalusa sawmill. In 



202 



other words, this great mill is devastating the pine forests of its terri- 
tory at the rate of 40 to 50 acres a day. How this is accomplished is an 
interesting story. The company's own 45-mile standard railroad ex- 
tends its tentacles into the surrounding woods, where some four hundred 
and fifty men are constantly employed in felling the trees, cutting them 
to the desired length and operating the great steam jiggers which load 
the finished log on to the train. 

When loaded, the train is run to the mill pond, which is encircled by 
a track elevated to an angle of 30 degrees, which permits the logs to 
roll off into the water immediately the supports have been removed. This 
pond is over 27 acres in extent and has a storage capacity of about 
7,000,000 cubic feet of timber. The logs are diverted to the slip by the 
slip feeders, men who are especially trained to maintain their balance 
on floating logs. The slip, a chain contrivance, grips the log and auto- 
matically carries it up to the saw. There are two slips in this mill, 
each having a capacity of 150 logs an hour. The saw's automatic ma- 
chinery, controlled by two doggers, men who work the levers of the 
dogs, the technical name for the vise that grapples the log, grips the 
log with lightning swiftness; the setter does his work, the sawyer his; 
the log is sized and cut into the length required in a moment of time 
that to the uninitiated seems both infinitesimal and marvelous. 

There are four band saws in the Bogalusa mill, each 44 feet in 
length and each capable of cutting simultaneously two logs in as many 
as 32 1-inch boards. As the log is cut, the resultant lumber is carried 
off automatically to either the shipping platforms or to the drying kilns, 
of which there are 22. These kilns are heated by 65 miles of steam pip<s, 
and have an aggregate capacity of about two million feet of lumber. 
From the kiln the lumber goes to the cooling shed and from there to 
either the plant's own magnificent planing mill or to the shipping plat- 
form. Over 45 per cent of all Bogalusa's lumber output is dressed on the 
grounds. 

An idea of the power required to operate this mill can be gained 
from the fact that four electric generators with a total generating 
power of 22,000 kilowatt and a steam engine of 18,000 horse-power, are 
in constant use. The belt that drives the main plant is said to be the 
largest in the world. It is 240 feet long and 72 inches wide, and over 
750 hides were used in its manufacture. 



THE CYPRESS. 

Along the shores of the myriad lakes and streams that are to be 
found all over the southern portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Ala- 
bama and Georgia, and throughout Florida, there is to be seen, inter- 
mittently silhouetting itself upon the horizon, a great tree, a veritable 
monarch of the forest, that, heavily draped in its som'ber garb of Span- 
ish moss, robed in the native majesty and glory that signals it out from 
its brothers of the forest, seems to stand sentinel at the water's edge as 
though to challenge and halt the approach of the iconoclast. 

It is the cypress, "the tree eternal," the tree that has outlived tro 
centuries, impervious to time and the elements; that has delighted the 



203 

heart of nature lovers since the day LaSalle first explored the mighty 
reaches of the Mississippi; that has inspired the artist and the poet and 
compelled music from the lips of the songster. 

But it is Louisiana more than any other state that this noble tree 
calls home. Here can be found huge forests of cypress — the famous 
red cypress of Louisiana — the cypress that attains a height, a diameter, 
and a texture that no other does — three million acres altogether, or 
more than twenty billion feet — twenty billion feet of solid cypress 
growth, unbroken save for an occasional tupelo gum or other marsh- 
loving tree. 

Up to a very few years ago these noble forests were looked upon as 
interminable swamps, even their magnificent timber having little in- 
trinsic value. True, there were many who recognized the lasting and 
other qualities of cypress, but the extraordinary lack of knowledge 
concerning it on the part of the nation as a whole, the immense cost of 
cypress lumbering operations, the lack of adequate lumbering ma- 
chinery, and the difficulties of transportation, precluded any compre- 
hensive development of the industry. 

In the last few years, however, conditions have been revolutionized, 
not only on account of the great improvement in the transportation 
facilities of Louisiana, and the introduction of machinery adapted to 
the logging of cypress, but because of a wider appreciation on the part 
of the consuming public as to the superiority of cypress in all classes of 
building construction in which durability is a prime consideration, and 
also because the capitalist, recognizing the future of the industry, has 
invested millions of dollars in it. 

Today the cypress industry, with nearly 150 mills in operation, with 
15,000 men in active employment and with an annual value to those en- 
gaged in it of some fifteen million dollars, is second only in importance 
to the much older yellow pine branch of Louisiana's wonderful lumber 
industry. 

Perhaps no wood in the world has better weathering qualities than 
cypress. In the alluvial deposits of Louisiana almost perfect cypress 
logs have been uncovered hundreds of feet below the present level of 
the Gulf of Mexico, that are said by scientists to be at least six to ten 
thousand years old. Some of the oldest houses in New England, con- 
structed by the Pilgrim fathers in the pioneer days of this country, 
are also of cypress construction, as are practically all of the homes that, 
scattered throughout Virginia and other Southern states, survive their 
day and age, living monuments to the pristine greatness of the ante- 
bellum South. 

Cypress, the most valuable of all Louisiana's commercial woods, is 
now regarded as one of the richest of Louisiana's many untold treas- 
ures, and even the despised swamp from which this valuable timber is 
cut — the swamp that for so many years was regarded as the breeding 
place of the mosquito, the home of the moccasin, and the harbinger of 
fever, pestilence and plague — is recognized as the future soil founda- 
tion of an agricultural industry that one day is destined to be a source of 
potent wealth to the state and to the nation. 



204 



FISHERIES. 

Not the least of Louisiana's many untold treasures are her wonderful 
resources of the sea. More rivers and 'bayous enter the Gulf of Mex- 
ico from Louisiana, it is said, than from the balance of the territory that 
borders America's Mediterranean, carrying with it, in immense quanti- 
ties, all manner of food for almost every form of fish life, with the result 
that Louisiana waters abound, in their season, with redfish, Pompano, 
mullet, trout, red snappers, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel — all the other 
commercial fish for which the Gulf of Mexico is famed, and inexhaustible 
quantities of oysters, shrimp, crabs and various other mollusks and 
crustaceans. 

OYSTERS. 

If Louisiana had no other resources whatever, her wonderful oyster 
beds would entitle her to a ranking position ambng those states of the 
Union who depend on their sea-products for a large measure of their 
wealth. 

With a larger acreage available for oyster culture than even the 
famed Chesapeake, with greater natural beds than any other state in 
the Union can boast of, and with better climatic conditions than prac- 
tically all her sister states, Louisiana has the natural foundation for a 
greater oyster industry than is now known in the world. 

Louisiana has a total water area of 4,720,502 acres, of which 409,220 
acres are available for oyster culture under just as favorable conditions 
as the grounds of Narragansett Bay or Long Island Sound. Her natural 
reefs, confined, it is true, to three parishes, are 62,740 acres in extent, 
her famous Point-au-Fer reef, in Terrebonne Parish, being approxi- 
mately 50,000 acres in extent, and having an annual production of a 
million barrels of oysters that up to the present time have been nearly 
all killed each year by the flood waters of the Atchafalaya because of 
the absence of a market large enough to permit of its harvesting in time 
to forestall destruction. 

The advantages that Louisiana offers to the oyster grower are many 
and pronounced. All the natural conditions are peculiarly favorable to 
oyster growth. The water is warmer, the food supply greater, and the 
oyster enemies, like the star Ash, the mussel and the ray, so common 
in the North, and so detrimental to the oysterman's welfare, are ifew 
and unimportant, the Louisiana oysterman not being compelled to 
dredge and clean his beds continually, knowing that unless he does so 
the destruction of his crop will be as complete as it is speedy. 

Just, as the Louisiana farmer can produce two crops a year, so the 
Louisiana oysterman can produce two crops of oysters while his North- 
ern brother is making one, for an oyster reaches maturity in the warm 
waters of the Gulf of Mexico in less than half the time that the oyster 
grown in the colder waters of the North, a year and a half to two years 
being the average time in which a Louisiana oyster will mature, as 
against four to five years in any of the North Atlantic states. 

No story of the Louisiana oyster industry would be complete with- 
out a mention of some of its famous oysters, such as the Cyprian, Bay, 



205 



the Bayou Cook, and the Fort Bayou, those oysters that have delighted 
every visitor to New Orleans, and have compelled recognized connois- 
seurs to place them on an equal footing with the famed Blue Point, 
Cotuit, and Lynnhaven, in the blue-blooded aristocracy of oysterdom. 
While it is hard to make comparisons, there are many who feel that the 
Louisiana oyster has a flavor and a consistency that is common to no 
other oyster in the country, and whether this be so or not, it is certain 
that the warm waters of the Mississippi River carry into solution cer- 
tain salts that give these oysters a piquancy peculiar unto themselves. 

Although more than Ave thousand men are engaged in the oyster 
industry of Louisiana, 1,700 of whom are employed in the packing houses 
and on the dredge boats, and while the state is now producing 900,000 
barrels of oysters annually — valued at nearly a million and a half dol- 
lars — and is deriving approximately $50,000 a year in revenue from 
leases and other sources, the industry is yet in its infancy, for at the 
very lowest estimate Louisiana has an acreage sufficient to produce at 
least 100,000,000 bushels of oysters annually, or more than the present 
outDUt of the entire country. 



SHRIMP. 

The shrimp industry, too, is also becoming yearly more important to 
the State of Louisiana. This industry, which has had a slow but 
healthy growth since the War, is today valued at about $400,000 a year, 
and represents an investment of over a million dollars. 

Owing to the close season enforced by the Game and Fish Commis- 
sion of the state and to induce propagation and thus prevent the anni- 
hilation that without some measure of Government control would be 
inevitable, together with the fact that in the winter time the shrimp 
seek warmer waters, this industry is carried on only in the months of 
February, March, April, August, September and October, the 3,000 people 
employed finding other occupations the remainder of the year. 

Shrimp are found chiefly in Louisiana in the waters of Grand Isle, the 
Timberley Islands, various sections of Barataria Bay, at the estuary of 
Bayou La Fourohe, and in the lakes and bays of the Mississippi Sound, 
in the Parish of St. Bernard. 

About. 75 per cent of the annual shrimp production of Louisiana is 
canned at one or other of the oyster and shrimp canning factories that 
are to be found at intervals along the entire Gulf Coast of Eastern Lou- 
isiana and Western Mississippi, and shipped chiefly to New England 
points, the Pacific Coast. Great Britain. Australasia, and South America, 
the balance being consumed in raw state in New Orleans and the larger 
commercial centers of the Mississippi Valley and the Middle West 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

In industrial as well as in agricultural and mineral development, the 
Slate of Louisiana is also forging forward in the mighty current of prog- 
ress that is sweeping the whole South. Not alone in New Orleans, 
Shreveport, Lake Charles, Alexandria and Baton Rouge, is there a de- 



206 



cided trend to real industrialism, but in every town and hamlet in the 
Commonwealth there are springing- up many new industries, incipient 
industries, it is true, hut industries that appear to be founded upon the 
rock of stability that spells permanence. 

The strategical position of 'Louisiana in relation to the great centers 
of population of the Mississippi Valley and the Middle West, her naviga- 
ble waterways, her splendid railroad and other transportation facilities, 
her raw materials, cheap power, and the supply of labor that is bound 
to follow the peopling of her lands, all point to the day when she will be 
almost as great a manufacturing as an agricultural state. 



NEW ORLEANS. 

The opening of the Panama Canal, too, is bound to divert an enor- 
mous amount of the commerce of the world to the Gulf of Mexico. Al- 
ready the prow of the tramp steamer is turned toward what is destined 
to be the Mediterranean of the tomorrow, and New Orleans the Genoa of 
Italy, but a greater Genoa than the Latin Kingdom ever knew is even 
now beginning to feel the effects of a movement only three years away. 

And this is as it should be. Situated at the mouth of the greatest 
system of inland waterways in the world, occupying a strategic position 
in relation to the great centers of commerce that no other city in the 
United States can boast of, enjoying a climate that is acknowledged 
'by world travelers to be the counterpart of the Riviera, New Orelans, the 
Queen City of the Gulf, is passing through a period of evolution that 
should make her one day one of the mightiest cities of the world. 

There have been many cities in the past decade that have grown up 
from the very plains themselves, magnificent tributes to our modern 
civilization, but few that have undergone such revolutionary changes as 
the romantic old City of New Orleans, the city that under Ave flags 
has played such a picturesque role in the history of the New World. 

Already the third largest port in point of commerce in the United 
States, New Orleans is each year increasing her importance in this re- 
gard. 

Speaking in this connection no less an authority than Herbert Knox 
Smith, the Commissioner of Corporations, said: 

"New Orleans is one of the most important as well as one of the 
most interesting harbors in the country, particularly in its advanced 
terminal facilities, its organization, and its methods of public adminis- 
tration. It is a river harbor, about 100 miles from the Gulf, but easily 
accessible for ocean vessels. 

"Both the commercial and industrial functions of the harbor are im- 
portant. It has about six miles of publicly owned wharves, over twenty- 
five in number, and about fifteen large steel sheds and warehouses. 
There is a very considerable amount of modern transshipping machinery 
for grain, fruit and coal." 

Another institution that is doing much to forward the interest of 
the Port of New Orleans is the Belt Railroad Commission, a municipal 
board that in the last few years has built and operated a belt railroad 
along the water front of the city. This is an 11-mile double tracked 
railroad, and has about forty industrial spurs. 



207 



It is intended ultimately to encircle the entire city with a double 
track railroad which will increase the length of the road to 22 miles. 
This road is publicly owned and publicly managed, and is giving uni- 
versal satisfaction. 

New Orleans has splendid dry-dock facilities, for besides its great 
government steel floating dock which can accommodate with ease ships 
of 18,000 tons, there are two other docks of 5,000 and 2,000 tons capacity, 
permitting the merchant ships of the world to undergo necessary repairs 
without having to proceed to some distant port. — National Magazine. 



THE SOUTH 

THE SOUTH has the grandest destiny the world ever saw. No peo- 
ple have such a future. Her soil, her climate, her products, her 
mineral resources, her manufacturing resources, her manufacturing fa- 
cilities, present a combination of advantages such as are found in no 
other land. The high moral tone of her people, the strength of her 
Christian faith, the culture of her highest classes, place the South where 
no other people stand. 

"The small buddings on the great oak prove that it has survived the 
winter, and spring is at hand. The survival of the misfortunes of the 
past is one of the grandest evidences of the strength of our civilization, 
and betokens the corning of a better day. Indeed, that day has already 
dawned. Go where you may, over the South, you will see evidences of 
improvement in every department of industry. The fact that Northern 
capital is taking possession of the railroads of the South shows that 
the North has faith in the future of the South. Never before were there 
so many great railroads being constructed in our region. 

"The northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico is the natural center of 
trade for the Western Hemisphere. The configuration of the continent, 
the direction of the great rivers, the sweep of the ocean currents, and 
the prevailing winds all point to the mouth of the Mississippi as the 
natural center. There is land enough adapted to the growth of sugar, 
contiguous to New Orleans, to supply the wants of the continent, and 
to furnish vast amounts for exportation. It only needs the proper appli- 
cation of machinery and labor to effect this great result. As to cotton, 
the lowlands along the Mississippi River can produce ten million bales 
annually. New Orleans is to be the grandest emporium of trade for th^ 
continent. As ship communication is now made across the Isthmus, 
New Orleans must become the great center of trade for North Amerua,; 
and nothing can divert it but an imperial despotism holding huge inves - 
ments of capital elsewhere. 

"Take it all in all, the smiling sun never looked upon a better country, 
or a grander people, than we have here in the South." 



208 



WHY YOU SHOULD SETTLE IN LOUISIANA 

Because it is the best country known to the man of moderate means. 

Because you will find a country of rich soil awaiting the settler. 

Because there are uplands, prairie lands, and alluvial river bottoms. 

Because you can be certain of profitable returns from whatever you put 
into the soil. 

Because the winter does not consume what the summer produces. 

Because there are more and better opportunities for diversified farming 
than elsewhere. 

Because the seasons are regular, and no fear of crop failure. 

Because the country is never scourged by cyclones and devastating 
storms or blizzards. 

Because no 'better fruit country is known — oranges, plums, pears, peaches, 
apples, grapes, strawberries, figs, pecans, and others fully maturing. 

Because everything grown elsewhere can be produced here more abund- 
antly. 

Because truck farming is a success; products, being early on the mir- 
ket, obtain high prices. 

Because there are more chances for profitable investment of capital than 
elsewhere in this country. 

Because you have no long winter months to encounter, with no excessive 
dry heat in summer. 

Because the climate is more uniform than elsewhere, no extremes *i 
heat or cold. 

Because you will find the most open-hearted people on the globe. 

Because education is paramount; public schools and churches of i- ^re- 
denomination are to be found in all communities. 




A FAMILIAR SCENE ON 
LOUISIANA COAST LINE 




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